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

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $571.31.

Several research firms recently commented on SPGI. UBS Group boosted their price target on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter worth approximately $200,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 2.5% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,561,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at $1,753,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in S&P Global by 1.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 161,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

S&P Global stock opened at $514.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $509.35 and a 200-day moving average of $482.51. S&P Global has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $533.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.18.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that S&P Global will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.13%.

About S&P Global

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.