TD Cowen Reaffirms Buy Rating for McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD)

TD Cowen restated their buy rating on shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $285.00 target price on the fast-food giant’s stock.

MCD has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a hold rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $300.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $280.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $302.64.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $268.75 on Monday. McDonald’s has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $302.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $255.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.92% and a net margin of 32.25%. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 56.71%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total transaction of $291,377.87. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,878 shares in the company, valued at $4,209,734.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total value of $220,016.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares in the company, valued at $5,225.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,454,507. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the second quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 10.5% in the second quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Allegheny Financial Group LTD raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 18.8% in the second quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 2,817 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.6% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,165 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Affiance Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 3.0% in the second quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,767,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About McDonald’s

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.