Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Will Pay Quarterly Dividend of $1.15

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, payable November 13 to shareholders of record on October 30. The annualized dividend is $4.60 per share, yielding approximately 2.5%.
• The company has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years, with a 49.6% payout ratio indicating earnings coverage. Analysts expect the future payout ratio to decline to about 35.2%.
• Morgan Stanley reported quarterly EPS of $3.03 and revenue of $20.34 billion, beating analyst estimates, while also authorizing a $20 billion share-repurchase program covering up to 5.6% of outstanding shares.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th.

Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend by an average of 0.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 49.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $13.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.2%.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $181.65 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.47. The firm has a market cap of $286.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $152.80 and a 12-month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.

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