Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Announces Earnings Results

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The asset manager reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.79, Zacks reports. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 4.22%.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MC traded down $1.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.80. 339,908 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 733,126. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.61 and a beta of 1.40. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.51 and a 200-day moving average of $70.75.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 452.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Moelis & Company from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moelis & Company from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.