Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.31 EPS

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MCO traded up $4.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $380.56. 793,012 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 756,106. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $296.45 and a 1 year high of $407.62. The stock has a market cap of $69.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $384.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $372.82.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.50.

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.