Moody’s Corporation (MCO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.03 on March 13th

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of 1.03 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This is a 9.6% increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94.

Moody’s has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Moody’s has a payout ratio of 26.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 $4.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.4%.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE MCO traded down $2.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $477.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,788,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,135. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $493.68 and a 200 day moving average of $492.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.