Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Shares to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $1.03

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share by the business services provider on Friday, December 11th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th.

Moody’s has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Moody’s has a payout ratio of 26.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Moody’s to earn $18.79 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 21.9%.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $7.38 on Thursday, hitting $488.43. 224,913 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,997. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $478.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $467.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 16.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,024,874,000 after acquiring an additional 72,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $643,191,000 after acquiring an additional 33,024 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 20.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,126,000 after purchasing an additional 168,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,188,000 after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.