Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Announces $0.85 Quarterly Dividend

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the business services provider on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd.

Moody’s has raised its dividend by an average of 11.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Moody’s has a dividend payout ratio of 25.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Moody’s to earn $13.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.8%.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $474.54 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $473.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $358.49 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

About Moody’s

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.