S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Receives $590.86 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $590.86.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SPGI shares. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $388,000. 111 Capital acquired a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $620,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 85,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,645,000 after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,168,000. Finally, IronOak Wealth LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,092,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $502.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.67, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $515.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $510.14. S&P Global has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. Analysts expect that S&P Global will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.