McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.19 EPS.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD traded down $2.10 on Wednesday, hitting $292.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,277,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,512,017. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $210.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $298.15 and a 200-day moving average of $275.35.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 61.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MCD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.74.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $446,721.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,721.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,256,818. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.