S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $590.23.

SPGI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in S&P Global by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,632,000 after acquiring an additional 225,370 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in S&P Global by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in S&P Global during the third quarter valued at $27,170,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE:SPGI opened at $525.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. S&P Global has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $161.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $512.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $510.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

About S&P Global

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.