CME Group Inc. ($CME) is a classic “picks and shovels” play on the very fundamentals of global finance and trading. The company operates the world’s largest derivatives exchange, spanning agriculture, energy, foreign exchange rates, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals.

If you trade futures or options contracts, there’s a high probability that CME is handling your orders behind the scenes.

CME is continually expanding and innovating as well.

Recently, the company announced plans to develop rare earth futures contracts and single-stock futures, two sectors that are likely to see increasing demand.

Operating the world’s largest marketplace for commodities trading is obviously a wide-moat business, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that CME Group is a market-beater with a 10-year average annual total return of 17.07%.

What may surprise some investors is the fact that CME is also a high-yield stock.

In addition to its regular quarterly dividend, CME routinely pays special distributions which are funded by the company’s excess cash flow.

Earlier this week, CME announced its latest special distribution — a one-time payout of $6.15/share.

Combined with the firm’s regular quarterly payments, this equates to roughly a 4.2% starting yield based on CME’s average closing stock price during 2025. But, for new investors buying today, the starting yield is closer to 3.75%.

Again, extremely high-yield for a company that regularly beats the market.

In terms of valuation, CME isn’t cheap but it isn’t terribly expensive either. The stock currently trades at a price to earnings ratio of 25.42, in line with the general market despite outperforming it. Likewise, this could be a contrarian play that actually benefits from sell-offs and market shocks because volatility increases trading activity, something that CME directly profits from.

Lastly, when it comes to quarterly dividends, CME Group’s payout ratio is a conservative 44.60% backed by a 5-year compound annual dividend growth rate of 8.02%. Recently, the company also announced its 2026 quarterly dividend raise — a 4% increase.

While somewhat paltry, this raise is offset by the firm’s special distributions.

As a long-time CME Group shareholder, I can personally say that this a rare investment that merges yield and growth, steadily appreciating in share price while also rewarding investors with cold hard cash.

The stock may not be the cheapest opportunity in the market, but it has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 while also offering a hefty starting yield.

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_{Educational only. Not investment or tax advice.}

Disclaimer: This article is for entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice, always do your own research.