Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $8.52 Million Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $8,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in 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. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Up 4.9 %

NYSE SPGI opened at $540.80 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $505.68 and its 200 day moving average is $506.00. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $407.69 and a twelve month high of $542.00. The company has a market cap of $167.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SPGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on S&P Global from $620.00 to $617.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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, Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $584.54.

S&P Global Company 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.