MCOMoody's Corporation

$460.22-7.2% 1Y

RyuScore

Seven criteria, each scored 0 to 100 on a published scale, weighted into one number.

RyuScore 60 out of 100, Above average
Today's price. Only valuation depends on it.

Above average. Moody's Corporation scores higher than 67% of the 1,794 companies Ryufin scores.

Carried by return on capital and capital allocation, held back by valuation.

Financial Services median 58 · all companies 50

Valuation

26% of the score

15median 13

Moody's Corporation is valued at 22.5x its operating profit before acquisition amortisation (EBITA), including debt: a rich multiple.

25x
20x
15x
10x
6x
22.5x
Full points at 6x or less, none from 25xfull points

Return on capital

18% of the score

95median 34

Over 7 years the business earned 22% a year after tax on the capital it uses.

2%
8%
15%
25%
22%
None at 2% or less, full points from 25%full points
Return on capital by year
7 years agolatest 26%

Return on new capital

16% of the score

48median 49

For every dollar of operating profit earned over 6 years, yearly profit grew by 3 cents. New capital earned 28%, and 11% of profit went back into the business.

-5%
12%
3.1%
None at minus 5 cents, full points from 12 centsfull points

Capital allocation

14% of the score

85median 64

How management spends the money: shares bought back or issued, and whether assets grow faster than the business they serve.

Share countDown 1% a year over 5 years: buybacks
75
5%
-3%
-1%
0 pointsfull points
Assets against salesAssets grew 5% a year, sales 7.5%
100
12%
-2%
-2.5%
0 pointsfull points

Cycle position

12% of the score

58median 62

Today's operating margin of 43% is 1.08x its normal 40%: close to its usual level. Normal is half the 10 year median, half the last four years, so a margin that has held is not taken for a peak.

2x
1.5x
1x
0.7x
1.1x
A trough earns points, a peak costs themfull points
Operating margin by year, against its normal level
10 years agonow 43%

Balance sheet

8% of the score

91median 50

What the debt weighs against the profit that has to carry it.

Net debt to EBITDA1.2x a year of EBITDA
83
4.5x
0.5x
1.2x
0 pointsfull points
Interest coverOperating profit covers interest 13x
100
1.5x
12x
13.4x
0 pointsfull points

Earnings quality

6% of the score

86median 90

Whether the reported profit arrives as cash, and whether the accounts show the usual signs of stretching.

Cash against profitOperating cash flow was 1.29x profit over 3 years
98
0.7x
1x
1.3x
1.3x
0 pointsfull points
AccrualsCash ran ahead of profit by 2.8% of assets
74
8%
0%
-8%
-2.8%
0 pointsfull points

How the RyuScore works

Each criterion earns 0 to 100 points on the scale drawn under it, and the RyuScore is their average weighted 26, 18, 16, 14, 12, 8 and 6. Scales bend in the company's favour between their ends, so an ordinary figure is never already near zero. Where a criterion cannot be measured from the filings it is taken out and the remaining weights scale up; a company needs 60% of the weight covered, and always a price, to get a score.

Built from the company's annual and quarterly filings with the SEC and today's share price. Banks, insurers and property trusts are not scored: their debt is their raw material, so these yardsticks mean something else there.