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

Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $590.86.

SPGI has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $504.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global has a 12-month low of $407.69 and a 12-month high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $514.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $510.31.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that S&P Global will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.09%.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 225,370 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,093 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth approximately $27,170,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.