S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $610.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. S&P Global traded as high as $524.14 and last traded at $520.79, with a volume of 40427 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $520.01.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SPGI. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.18.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In related news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,205.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in S&P Global in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.59 billion, a PE ratio of 58.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $493.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $451.76.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.81%.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates through S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.