Morgan Stanley (MS) & Its Competitors Head to Head Review

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is one of 1,744 publicly-traded companies in the “Capital Markets” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Morgan Stanley to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.4% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of shares of all “Capital Markets” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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 3.2% and pay out 30.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Morgan Stanley and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morgan Stanley	$74.84 billion	$16.86 billion	14.73
Morgan Stanley Competitors	$2.54 billion	$394.83 million	17.06

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

Volatility & Risk

Morgan Stanley has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Morgan Stanley’s competitors have a beta of 0.81, indicating that their average share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Morgan Stanley and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley	1	13	11	2	2.52
Morgan Stanley Competitors	5546	20106	22438	641	2.37

Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus price target of $214.81, indicating a potential upside of 15.76%. As a group, “Capital Markets” companies have a potential upside of 25.30%. Given Morgan Stanley’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Morgan Stanley has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley	15.63%	19.40%	1.31%
Morgan Stanley Competitors	313.70%	79.21%	3.63%

Summary

Morgan Stanley competitors beat Morgan Stanley on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Morgan Stanley

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.