S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

SPGI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $536.21 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.42, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $509.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $508.60.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that S&P Global will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&P Global

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $1,725,084,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after acquiring an additional 618,620 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in S&P Global by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,631,568,000 after acquiring an additional 525,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 174,815.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 467,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $241,274,000 after acquiring an additional 466,757 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.