S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $614.8462.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on S&P Global from $604.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on S&P Global from $600.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE SPGI opened at $486.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $148.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $529.93 and its 200-day moving average is $514.25. S&P Global has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $579.05.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter. S&P Global had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 27.30%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,094,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,868,750,000 after buying an additional 315,916 shares during the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 11,091,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,848,502,000 after buying an additional 730,354 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,793,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,565,889,000 after buying an additional 42,724 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,188,945,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,186,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,618,934,000 after buying an additional 114,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.