Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to Issue $0.93 Quarterly Dividend

by · The Markets Daily

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.925 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend by an average of 19.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 40.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $8.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 46.2%.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $135.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $128.74 and its 200-day moving average is $113.15. The firm has a market cap of $218.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.53.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on MS

About Morgan Stanley

(Get Free Report)

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.

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