Moody's Ratings / Products and services (2024)

FAQs

What are the Moody's rating levels? ›

In Moody's Ratings system, securities are assigned a rating from Aaa to C, with Aaa being the highest quality and C the lowest quality. Moody's was founded by John Moody in 1909, to produce manuals of statistics related to stocks and bonds and bond ratings.

Depending on such factors, fees for MIS's rating services may range from $1,500 to $2,400,000. A small number of the ratings assigned and updated by MIS are not paid for by issuers. Such ratings are subject to the same analytic standards and the same rating committee process as ratings that are paid for by issuers.

The issuer reviews the draft press release. The rating is then delivered through a press release available on ratings.moodys.com and newswires (for private or unpublished ratings, nothing is shared publicly).

Moody's considers various factors when assigning credit ratings. These factors may include financial ratios, cash flow, debt levels, market position, industry trends, regulatory environment, geopolitical factors, and management quality.

The highest score you can have on the most widely used scales is 850. According to data from FICO, about 1.7% of all FICO scores were at the coveted 850 as of April 2023.

Currently there are only two companies in the United States with an AAA credit rating: Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson.

Moody's was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet in 1962. In 2000, Dun & Bradstreet spun off Moody's Corporation as a separate company that was listed on the NYSE under MCO.

The long-term ratings of First Merchants Corp , F.N.B. Corp , Fulton Financial Corp , Old National Bancorp , Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corp and WaFd were placed on review.

Pursuant to Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, MOODY'S hereby discloses that most issuers of debt securities (including corporate and municipal bonds, debentures, notes and commercial paper) and preferred stock rated by MOODY'S have, prior to assignment of any rating, agreed to pay to MOODY'S for appraisal ...

How reliable is Moody's rating? ›

MOODY'S adopts all necessary measures so that the information it uses in assigning a credit rating is of sufficient quality and from sources MOODY'S considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent third-party sources.

Moody's provides data, intelligence and analytical tools to help business and financial leaders make confident decisions. Moody's has highly skilled analysts, rich data, robust tools supported by groundbreaking technologies, and a view of the future informed by more than 115 years of expertise.

Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk. Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk. Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.

The AA+ rating is issued by S&P and Fitch and is similar to the Aa1 rating issued by Moody's. This rating is still of high quality but it falls below the AAA ranking. It comes with very low credit risk even though long-term risks may affect these investments.

Ba1/BB+ are rating designations by Moody's Investor Service and S&P Global Ratings, respectively, for a credit issue or an issuer of credit that signify higher degrees of default risk on the agencies' rating spectrums. Ba1/BB+ sits just below investment-grade ratings.

Key Takeaways. Ba2/BB are credit ratings just below investment grade, considered more speculative. Ba2 falls above the Ba3 rating and below Ba1, while BB is above BB- and below BB+. Moody's uses the Ba2 rating, while S&P and Fitch use BB.