Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 524 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,273,264,000 after purchasing an additional 116,208 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,725,084,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,162,979,000 after buying an additional 145,434 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in S&P Global by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,999,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $995,795,000 after acquiring an additional 62,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,868,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $930,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 7.7 %

SPGI opened at $451.47 on Monday. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $405.23 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $513.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $509.15. The firm has a market cap of $141.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

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

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

S&P Global 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.