Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The asset manager reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 39.61%. The business had revenue of $409.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Moelis & Company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Moelis & Company’s conference call:

• Record results and strong pipeline: Second-quarter revenue rose 12% year over year to $409 million, while first-half revenue increased 9% to $729 million. Management said the announced pipeline was up more than 80% year over year and the total pipeline reached a record level entering the second half.
• Non-M&A businesses are expanding: Capital markets and private capital advisory drove much of the growth, with both producing record first-half revenue. Moelis is adding capabilities in debt and private credit, securitization, GP-led and LP-led secondaries, and promoted co-investments.
• Profitability and shareholder returns improved: The adjusted compensation ratio declined to 65.8% from 69% a year earlier, while adjusted pretax margins increased to 18.6% in the quarter and 17% for the first half. The firm returned approximately $246 million to shareholders in the first half through dividends and repurchases and ended the quarter with $481 million in cash and no debt.
• M&A recovery remains uneven: Management characterized the broader M&A cycle as being in its early stages, supported by scale requirements, technology disruption and sponsor portfolio exits. However, sponsor engagement has not yet translated into broad middle-market exits because some portfolio companies have not reached valuations that support targeted returns.
• Investment and market risks remain: Capital structure advisory revenue declined, while non-compensation expenses are expected to remain in the mid-to-high $60 million range per quarter due to higher deal activity, underwriting costs, technology and AI investment. Executives also noted that AI could disrupt certain software companies and create additional liability-management needs.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

MC opened at $68.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.85. Moelis & Company has a one year low of $51.06 and a one year high of $78.22.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MC shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Moelis & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moelis & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 147.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,669 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 6,354 shares during the last quarter. Odyssean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moelis & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $730,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Moelis & Company by 296.5% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,093 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,313 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Co operates as a holding company. It engages in the provision of financial advisory, capital raising and asset management services to a client base including corporations, governments, sovereign wealth funds and financial sponsors. The firm focuses on clients including large public multinational corporations, middle market private companies, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and governments. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.