Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Declares $1.03 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Moody's declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, payable June 5 to holders of record May 15, equal to $4.12 annualized (≈0.9% yield); the company has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years and maintains a low payout ratio (~26.8%), indicating the dividend is well covered.
• Moody's reported Q earnings of $4.33 EPS (vs. $4.22 expected) on $2.08B revenue (slightly below estimates), set FY2026 guidance of $16.40–$17.00 EPS (consensus ~16.67), and carries a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $542.63 target.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 1.03 per share by the business services provider on Friday, June 5th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th.

Moody's has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Moody's has a dividend payout ratio of 26.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Moody's to earn $18.56 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 22.2%.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $467.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $444.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $477.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. 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 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody's will post 16.67 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $660.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $542.63.

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.

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