McDonald’s Co. (MCD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.77 on December 16th

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of 1.77 per share by the fast-food giant on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67.

McDonald’s has raised its dividend by an average of 7.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 48 consecutive years. McDonald’s has a dividend payout ratio of 52.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect McDonald’s to earn $12.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.1%.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCD opened at $303.95 on Friday. McDonald’s has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $304.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $280.78 and a 200 day moving average of $271.12. The firm has a market cap of $218.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 5,939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $1,781,937.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,121,716.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,958 shares of company stock valued at $7,032,111. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.