Moody’s price target raised to $454 from $424 at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau raised the firm’s price target on Moody’s to $454 from $424 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. Following strong Q1 issuance, Oppenheimer’s tracker indicates that Q2 issuance was much better than expected, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm currently forecast that S&P Global’s and Moody’s rating revenues will grow by 22% and 26% year-over-year respectively, much higher than consensus rating revenue estimates. This was the second quarter of substantial outperformance for issuance this year, raising the question whether and how much it will impact issuance in the second half of 2024, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes more refinancing at current high rates creates a favorable backdrop for issuance recovery. Going into the print, it sees meaningful Q2 upward earnings estimate revisions for both companies.