Moody’s dividend: cash coverage and yield
MyStockButler's October 2026 analysis: Moody’s latest quarterly declaration was $1.03 per share; the forecast shows dividends rising from $4.39 to $5.24 per share in the base case. Moody’s generated $2,575 million of free cash flow in 2025 and paid shareholders $2,308 million, or 89.6% of that amount.
How much does Moody’s pay per share?
Dividends rise from $4.39 to $5.24 per share in the base case, versus $4.12 to $4.36 in the bear and $4.42 to $5.52 in the bull. The base moderates the historical growth rate because distributions already exceed current free cash flow, although the latest quarterly declaration was $1.03 and dividends rose every year from 2021 through 2025.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 7,718 | 7,088 | 5,916 | 5,468 | 6,218 |
| EPS, diluted | 13.67 | 11.26 | 8.73 | 7.44 | 11.78 |
| Dividend per share | 3.76 | 3.40 | 3.08 | 2.80 | 2.48 |
What this means. The 2025 sales growth of 8.9% includes acquisitions and divestitures, while the company's underlying growth was 7.0%.
How much would Moody’s's dividend pay you?
$10,000 invested in Moody’s at its 0.9% dividend yield (our report of October 22, 2026) pays $90.00 in the first year, before tax. If its dividend per share keeps changing 12.2% a year, as it did from 2021 to 2025, and the dividends are reinvested, year 10 pays $289.96, with $1,713.55 received in all.
Before tax. Past dividend growth is not a promise. Information only, not investment advice.
Is Moody’s dividend covered by its cash?
Moody’s generated substantial free cash flow, but shareholder payments often consumed most of it. Free cash flow is operating cash left after investment in equipment and capitalized software; it does not include acquisitions or distributions. In 2025, Moody’s generated $2,575 million and paid shareholders $2,308 million, or 89.6% of that amount. After payments to minority owners, only $262 million remained.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow | 2,575 | 2,521 | 1,880 | 1,191 | 1,866 |
| − Dividends paid | 701 | 620 | 564 | 515 | 463 |
| − Share buybacks | 1,607 | 1,292 | 490 | 983 | 750 |
| = Free cash flow not paid out | 262 | 602 | 817 | 648 | |
| Paid out, % of free cash flow | 89.6% | 75.8% | 56.1% | 125.8% | 65.0% |
What this means. In 2022, the company paid shareholders more cash than its business generated, so it had to use savings or borrow money to cover the difference.
What could change Moody’s dividend?
Analytics retention, pricing and expansion sales will decide whether recurring growth supports the base or bull case in 2027–2029. Finally, savings arriving during 2027–2028 while buybacks remain below the aggressive ceiling would support the base; persistent restructuring costs, excess distributions and rising net debt would move the forecast lower.
What is Moody’s dividend yield today?
Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital additions. In 2025, that calculation produced $2.575 billion. The 3.1% free-cash-flow yield is the cash generation implied by today’s equity value, while the 0.9% dividend yield shows that most of the case rests on growth, acquisitions, debt repayment or buybacks rather than dividends.
| Today (Oct 22, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Share price | 480.79 |
| Free cash flow yield (calculated) | 3.1% |
| Dividend yield (calculated) | 0.9% |
What this means. The share price is from the market’s close on October 21, even though the table is dated October 22.