Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Buys 82 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 639 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headinvest LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 2.0% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 4.2% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 498 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 1.3% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 1.2% in the third quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in S&P Global by 21.0% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $528.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.72 billion, a PE ratio of 42.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $512.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $510.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 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.