Moody's (MCO) Competitors

Moody's (NYSE:MCO) and Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, dividends and community ranking.

Which has more risk and volatility, MCO or ICE?

Moody's has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intercontinental Exchange has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer MCO or ICE?

In the previous week, Moody's had 9 more articles in the media than Intercontinental Exchange. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Moody's and 12 mentions for Intercontinental Exchange. Intercontinental Exchange's average media sentiment score of 0.58 beat Moody's' score of 0.38 indicating that Intercontinental Exchange is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Moody's	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Intercontinental Exchange	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is MCO or ICE more profitable?

Moody's has a net margin of 29.05% compared to Intercontinental Exchange's net margin of 21.31%. Moody's' return on equity of 57.97% beat Intercontinental Exchange's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Moody's	29.05%	57.97%	14.60%
Intercontinental Exchange	21.31%	12.75%	2.50%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MCO or ICE?

Intercontinental Exchange received 295 more outperform votes than Moody's when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.02% of users gave Intercontinental Exchange an outperform vote while only 59.26% of users gave Moody's an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Moody's	Outperform Votes 544 59.26%	Underperform Votes 374 40.74%
Intercontinental Exchange	Outperform Votes 839 72.02%	Underperform Votes 326 27.98%

Is MCO or ICE a better dividend stock?

Moody's pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Intercontinental Exchange pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Moody's pays out 31.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Intercontinental Exchange pays out 42.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Moody's has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MCO or ICE?

92.1% of Moody's shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.3% of Intercontinental Exchange shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Moody's shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Intercontinental Exchange shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, MCO or ICE?

Intercontinental Exchange has higher revenue and earnings than Moody's. Intercontinental Exchange is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Moody's, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Moody's	$6.90B	12.25	$1.61B	$10.95	42.59
Intercontinental Exchange	$11.40B	7.57	$2.37B	$4.22	35.62

Do analysts prefer MCO or ICE?

Moody's presently has a consensus price target of $506.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.50%. Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus price target of $175.07, indicating a potential upside of 16.47%. Given Intercontinental Exchange's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Intercontinental Exchange is more favorable than Moody's.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Moody's	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53
Intercontinental Exchange	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Summary

Moody's beats Intercontinental Exchange on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.