Company Update (NASDAQ:CME): CME to count on French grain firms in EU wheat battle with Euronext

[Reuters] – CME Group faces a tough task getting Europe’s grain trade to adopt U.S.-style wheat futures, but backing from big French grain handlers gives it a chance of challenging Euronext in a market some traders say has room for only one exchange. CME, the owner of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) whose prices are a global benchmark for grain, will launch trading in European Union wheat futures and options on Sept. 12 as it seeks to tap into the world’s biggest wheat growing zone. Traders agree that any breakthrough will take time as new derivatives often struggle for liquidity, as shown by the failure of CME’s Black Sea wheat contract and Euronext’s premium wheat futures. Read more on this. CME Group Inc. (CME) , valued at $32.62B, opened this morning at $97.01. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $96.01 to $97.56 with a one year range of $81.87 to $100.87. CME Group (CME) shares are currently priced at 22.30x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s -53.33x earnings multiple for the same period. And for those looking to make a return holding the stock, the company pays shareholders $2.40 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.49%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 16 sell-side analysts are looking at $1.09 per share, which would be $0.14 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $4.32 is a $0.46 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $902.61 Million. If realized, that would be a 10.07% increase over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Sterne Agee CRT Initiated CME at Neutral (May 20, 2016). Previously, JP Morgan upgraded CME from Neutral to Overweight. The average price target for CME shares by the analysts covering it is $100.31, which is 3.40% above where the stock opened. See more in (NASDAQ:CME) Similar Articles: Company Update (NASDAQ:MDLZ): Kraft, Mondelez must face wheat price-rigging lawsuit – U.S. judge Company Update (NASDAQ:CME): CME says to launch EU wheat futures in September Company Update: CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) – CME Group Named "Best Futures Exchange" by Markets Media Magazine