Piper Jaffray Boosts Estimates, Price Target On Moody's Corporation

Piper Jaffray is boosting its estimates and price target for Moody's MCO based on recent strength in new debt issuance volumes. Given strength in 1Q 2011 new debt issuance volumes, Piper Jaffray is raising its estimates for MCO. Piper's 2011/2012 EPS estimates go to $2.20/$2.53 from $2.18/2.51. It now looks for 1Q EPS of $0.56 (consensus is $0.53), up from Piper's prior estimate of $0.54. Piper Jaffray is raising its price target for MCO as it rolls forward to use 2012 estimates. The $44 PT assumes 17.5x 2012E EPS of $2.53. Piper notes that its 17.5x target multiple compares with a 20.9x 10-year average, suggesting that the price target could prove conservative, particularly if it continues to see positive momentum in estimate revisions. Piper Jaffray has an Overweight rating on MCO MCO closed Wednesday at $35.41