McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $330.00 target price on the fast-food giant’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MCD. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $291.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. BTIG Research lowered shares of McDonald’s from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $345.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued an outperform rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $320.60.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $282.02 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $290.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.92. McDonald’s has a 52-week low of $245.73 and a 52-week high of $302.39. The company has a market cap of $203.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 57.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 103.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 413 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $17,266,000 after buying an additional 5,007 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 516,408 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $127,697,000 after buying an additional 23,643 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth about $1,108,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 59.7% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 9,338 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 3,490 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.