Morgan Stanley (MS) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $1.15 on August 14th

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.15 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, August 14th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This is a 15.0% increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 43.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $12.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.7%.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $218.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $344.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $136.17 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.55.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.