Moody's (MCO) Competitors

Moody's (NYSE:MCO) and Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment and dividends.

Is MCO or ICE more profitable?

Moody's has a net margin of 29.15% compared to Intercontinental Exchange's net margin of 22.84%. Moody's' return on equity of 60.37% beat Intercontinental Exchange's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Moody's	29.15%	60.37%	15.33%
Intercontinental Exchange	22.84%	13.27%	2.62%

Do analysts prefer MCO or ICE?

Moody's currently has a consensus price target of $521.40, indicating a potential upside of 3.37%. Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus price target of $188.46, indicating a potential upside of 2.92%. Given Moody's' higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Moody's is more favorable than Intercontinental Exchange.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Moody's	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53
Intercontinental Exchange	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85

Does the media refer more to MCO or ICE?

In the previous week, Intercontinental Exchange had 18 more articles in the media than Moody's. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Intercontinental Exchange and 26 mentions for Moody's. Intercontinental Exchange's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Moody's' score of 1.00 indicating that Intercontinental Exchange is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Moody's	17 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Intercontinental Exchange	32 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MCO or ICE?

92.1% of Moody's shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.3% of Intercontinental Exchange shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Moody's shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Intercontinental Exchange shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, MCO or ICE?

Moody's has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intercontinental Exchange has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MCO or ICE a better dividend stock?

Moody's pays an annual dividend of $3.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Intercontinental Exchange pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Moody's pays out 32.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Intercontinental Exchange pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Moody's has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Intercontinental Exchange has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, MCO or ICE?

Intercontinental Exchange has higher revenue and earnings than Moody's. Intercontinental Exchange is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Moody's, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Moody's	$7.09B	12.80	$2.06B	$11.58	43.56
Intercontinental Exchange	$12.19B	8.62	$2.75B	$4.83	37.91

Summary

Moody's beats Intercontinental Exchange on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.