Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $70.89, but opened at $75.54. Moelis & Company shares last traded at $71.03, with a volume of 299,360 shares changing hands.

The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $487.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.17 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 43.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.96%.

Key Headlines Impacting Moelis & Company

Here are the key news stories impacting Moelis & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Revenue rose ~11% to ~$488M and EPS topped consensus, reflecting continued M&A and capital-markets momentum; management said it will expand capital returns, supporting near-term upside for the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: $300M buyback announced and quarterly dividend declared ($0.65/share, ~3.6% yield) — buybacks and a meaningful dividend increase capital return to shareholders and improve EPS leverage. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price-target increases — Morgan Stanley raised its target to $90 (Overweight) and JPMorgan nudged its target to $81 (Neutral), bringing fresh analyst support and raising the consensus upside. Read More. · Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive analyst commentary and stock-screen features — coverage pieces (Zacks et al.) highlight Moelis’ growth profile and attractive style scores, which can attract momentum and growth-focused investors but are informational rather than catalytic. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call / deep dives available — Transcripts and slide decks provide detail on deal pipeline, strategic hires and capital-markets expansion; useful for modeling but no new surprises disclosed in headlines. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational and cash-flow pressure beneath the headline beat — some metrics showed strains: operating profit and diluted EPS were modestly lower year-over-year in certain reports, and cash from operations and cash balances declined materially, which could limit flexibility if deal activity softens. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moelis & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MC. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $235,654,000 after acquiring an additional 458,575 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Moelis & Company by 4.7% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,080,123 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $191,953,000 after purchasing an additional 137,824 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Moelis & Company by 3.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,862,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $178,381,000 after purchasing an additional 89,143 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,396,230 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,333,000 after purchasing an additional 135,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,052,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $127,947,000 after purchasing an additional 424,138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.00.

About Moelis & Company

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.