Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Announces $0.94 Quarterly Dividend

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.94 per share by the business services provider on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th.

Moody’s has raised its dividend by an average of 11.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Moody’s has a payout ratio of 24.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Moody’s to earn $15.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.1%.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $485.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $447.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $471.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $87.26 billion, a PE ratio of 43.04, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.