McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Forecasted to Earn Q1 2024 Earnings of $2.72 Per Share

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCDFree Report) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for McDonald’s in a research note issued on Monday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst H. Ray now expects that the fast-food giant will post earnings per share of $2.72 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $2.75. The consensus estimate for McDonald’s’ current full-year earnings is $12.37 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for McDonald’s’ Q2 2024 earnings at $3.22 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $3.34 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $3.10 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $12.37 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.01 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.37 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.48 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.40 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $13.25 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $14.89 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $273.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 11th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.10.

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McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $292.65 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $292.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.00. McDonald’s has a one year low of $245.73 and a one year high of $302.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCDGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $17,266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,007 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 516,408 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $127,697,000 after purchasing an additional 23,643 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,108,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 59.7% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 9,338 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 3,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 4,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.70, for a total transaction of $1,332,278.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,379,960.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 57.74%.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises McDonald's restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company's restaurants offer hamburgers and cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and nuggets, fries, salads, shakes, frozen desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, bakery items, soft drinks, coffee, and beverages and other beverages, as well as breakfast menu, including muffins, Sausages, biscuit and bagel sandwiches, oatmeal, hash browns, breakfast burritos and hotcakes.

See Also

Earnings History and Estimates for McDonald's (NYSE:MCD)

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