S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, an increase of 25.3% from the February 13th total of 2,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE SPGI traded down $4.01 on Tuesday, reaching $490.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,469,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,154,341. The firm has a market cap of $150.90 billion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $513.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $510.89. S&P Global has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.96 dividend. 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 0.78%. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in S&P Global by 3.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,581,580,000 after buying an additional 292,436 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,273,264,000 after buying an additional 116,208 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 6.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after buying an additional 369,598 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $1,725,084,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,631,568,000 after buying an additional 525,347 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SPGI. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began 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 objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

S&P Global Company Profile

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.