Is CME Group a Great Dividend Stock?

When searching for good dividend stocks, the most important questions concern the stability of the dividend. Can the company pay the dividend in good times and bad? Does the company have a competitive advantage that makes it hard for new entrants to replicate its business model? Finally, does the board of directors have a policy guiding how it determines the dividend that is paid?

Let's take a look at how CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) answers these questions.

CME Group is the world's biggest derivatives exchange, encompassing the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchanges, and the Commodity Exchange, among others. Investors trade commodity futures and options, currencies, interest rate derivatives, and stock index futures. Since starting out as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board more than a century ago, the company has grown by acquisition over the years, buying the Chicago Board of Trade in 2006 and the New York Mercantile Exchange two years later. Its customer base includes institutional and individual investors, banks, corporations, governments, and central banks.

Source Fool.com