S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $599.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $556.58.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $512.17 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global has a 12-month low of $340.49 and a 12-month high of $528.02. The company has a market cap of $160.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.42, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $504.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.38.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.12 earnings per share. S&P Global’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other S&P Global news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,496,816.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 1st quarter valued at $351,774,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in S&P Global by 352.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,669,000 after purchasing an additional 360,909 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 1st quarter valued at about $142,526,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,697,000 after purchasing an additional 298,645 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,464,951,000 after purchasing an additional 291,712 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Company Profile

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.