6 Reasons Why You Should Hold On To Cboe Global Stock Now

Estimates for Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBOE) have been revised upward over the past 30 days, reflecting analysts’ confidence in the stock post solid first-quarter 2018 results. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings has been moved 1.5% north to $4.68.

Shares of Cboe Global have rallied nearly 19% in a year compared with its industry’s increase of 26.3%. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company remains well-poised for growth, banking on expanding wealth management business, sturdy Asia operations and a solid capital position.

Cboe Global’s return on equity, a profitability measure, is 15.1%, better than the industry average of 10.3%. Further, this reflects the company’s efficiency in utilizing its shareholders’ funds.

Let’s focus on the factors that make Cboe Global a good investment option.

Improving Top line: Driven by both organic and inorganic strategic initiatives, Cboe Global has been witnessing top-line growth over the last several quarters on the back of increasing transaction fees, driven by higher trading volumes. Solid market position and a global reach with strength in the company’s proprietary products, primarily SPX options, VIX options and VIX futures, should help retain the stock’s momentum.

Contribution From Bats Acquisition: Accretion of Bats Global expands and diversifies Cboe Global’s product portfolio with the addition of U.S. and European cash equities, Global ETPs and Global FX, thereby widening its global reach with solid pan-European equities and global FX positions. The transaction also opened non-transactional revenue generating avenues for Cboe Global.

The buyout will help Cboe Global achieve an $85-million annualized run rate expense synergy by 2020.

Firm Capital Position: Cboe Global boasts a robust capital position, aiding the company to return value to its shareholders through dividend hikes, share buybacks and pursuit of growth initiatives. The company also has been successfully lowering its leverage ratio.

Growth Projections: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share is pegged at $4.68 for 2018 and at $5 for 2019. While the consensus mark for 2018 reflects a year-over-year surge of 36.8%, the same for 2019 improved nearly 7%.

The top line is estimated to inch up 1.4% and 2.4%, respectively, for 2018 and 2019.

The expected long-term earnings growth rate is pegged at 17%, much higher than the industry average of 11.9%.

Positive Earnings Surprise History: Cboe Global surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 2.46%.

Overpriced at Present: Looking at the company’s price-to-book ratio — the best multiple for valuing exchanges because of large variations in their earnings results from one quarter to the next — shares are overvalued at the current level. The company has a trailing 12-month P/B ratio of 3.65, significantly higher than the industry average of 2.75.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the finance sector are GWG Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:GWGH) , CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) and Cigna Corp. (NYSE:CI) .

GWG Holdings purchases life insurance policies in the secondary market in the United States. The company came up with an average four-quarter beat of 195.14%. The stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

CME Group operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. The company delivered positive surprises in the last four quarters with an average beat of 1.86%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Cigna is one of the largest investor-owned health service organizations in the United States. The company pulled off positive surprises in the last four quarters with an average beat of 15.74%. The stock holds a Zacks Rank of 2.

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