Ground Swell Capital LLC Purchases New Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,470,000. S&P Global makes up 1.3% of Ground Swell Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total transaction of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,618,662.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $483.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 0.94. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $365.00 and a 52-week high of $533.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $512.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $473.62. The stock has a market cap of $149.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. S&P Global’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.16 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $571.31.

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.