Head to Head Survey: Morgan Stanley (MS) & Its Peers

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is one of 1,746 public companies in the “Capital Markets” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Morgan Stanley to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Morgan Stanley and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley	1	13	11	2	2.52
Morgan Stanley Competitors	5521	20040	22360	636	2.37

Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus target price of $214.62, indicating a potential upside of 14.70%. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies have a potential upside of 27.48%. Given Morgan Stanley’s peers higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Morgan Stanley has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Dividends

Morgan Stanley pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley pays out 36.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.3% and pay out 29.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Morgan Stanley and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley	N/A	N/A	N/A
Morgan Stanley Competitors	415.56%	10.73%	3.55%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Morgan Stanley and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morgan Stanley	$74.84 billion	N/A	14.85
Morgan Stanley Competitors	$887.27 million	$257.27 million	15.21

Morgan Stanley has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Morgan Stanley is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

84.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.5% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Morgan Stanley has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Morgan Stanley’s peers have a beta of 0.78, suggesting that their average share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Morgan Stanley peers beat Morgan Stanley on 9 of the 14 factors compared.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. The Institutional Securities segment offers capital raising and financial advisory services, including services related to the underwriting of debt, equity, and other securities, as well as advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, real estate, and project finance. This segment also provides equity and fixed income products comprising sales, financing, prime brokerage, and market-making services; foreign exchange and commodities; corporate and commercial real estate loans, commercial mortgage and secured lending facilities, and financing for sales and trading customers, and asset-backed and mortgage lending; and wealth management services, investment, and research services. The Wealth Management segment offers financial advisor-led brokerage, custody, administrative, and investment advisory services; self-directed brokerage services; financial and wealth planning services; workplace services, including stock plan administration; annuity and insurance products; securities-based lending, residential real estate loans, and other lending products; banking; and retirement plan services to individual investors and small to medium-sized businesses and institutions. The Investment Management segment provides equity, fixed income, alternatives and solutions, and liquidity and overlay services to benefit/defined contribution plans, foundations, endowments, government entities, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, third-party fund sponsors, corporations, and individuals through institutional and intermediary channels. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in New York, New York.