Stock Update: Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – California sues Morgan Stanley over mortgage losses

[Reuters] – The state of California sued Morgan Stanley on Friday, accusing the bank of concealing the risks of complex investments such as residential mortgage-backed securities, causing major losses for investors … Read more on this. Morgan Stanley (MS) , with a current value of $50.00B, started the session at $24.89. A quick look at the market, the company’s stock traded between $24.62 and $25.68 with a trailing 52-week range being $21.16 to $41.04. MS shares are currently priced at 9.73x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 11.06x forward p/e ratio. And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $0.60 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.43%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 24 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.65 per share, which would be $0.20 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.26 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $2.57, which would be a $0.13 better than last year. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $8.52 Billion. If reported, that would be a 12.88% decrease over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Portales Partners upgraded MS from Underperform to Sector Perform (Feb 16, 2016). Previously, JP Morgan upgraded MS from Neutral to Overweight. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $32.98, which is 32.50% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:MS) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Sell the recent equity rally, says Morgan Stanley Market Update: Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Morgan Stanley in $225 mln deal with U.S. regulator over mortgage bonds Stock Update: Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Adds CreditSights to Research and Strategy Content for Financial Advisors