Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shareholders to Get $1.15 Quarterly Dividend

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th.

Morgan Stanley has increased 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 49.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $13.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.2%.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $181.65 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $152.80 and a one year high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $205.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.