Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Stock Price

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its target price increased by Evercore ISI from $599.00 to $608.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

SPGI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer reduced 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on S&P Global from $620.00 to $617.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.85.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $530.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $164.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 2.39 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 $542.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $506.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $506.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that S&P Global will post 15.34 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is 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 is 32.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&P Global

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,632,000 after acquiring an additional 225,370 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management grew its holdings in S&P Global by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,134,000 after buying an additional 1,801 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.