MSCI Inc.

MSCI consistently earns a very high return on capital and deploys cash in shareholder-friendly ways. The company reinvests heavily in R&D and acquisitions of strategic assets (e.g. Foxberry, Fabric, partnerships with Moody’s and Microsoft) to grow its ecosystem, yet also returns excess cash to investors.

It has a history of opportunistic buybacks: for example, repurchasing $885 million of stock in 2024), which reduced share count. Growth in RSUs/PSUs is offset by aggressive repurchases, so dilution is minimal (shares declined from 80.7M in 2022 to ~78.7M by Jan 2025)).

Dividends have been rising steadily ($4.58/share in 2022 to $6.40/share in 2024)), but the payout ratio remains moderate (driving ~4-5% yield, with most free cash redeployed). The company’s credit raise (new 2024 credit facility) and balance sheet strategy support this.

Overall, the capital allocation record is excellent and aligns with long-term value creation: it funds growth where ROIC is high, then returns excess to shareholders via buybacks/dividends.