Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Grows Stake in S&P Global Inc. $SPGI

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 72.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,287 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $14,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 4.1% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 21,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,314,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Divergent Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 2nd quarter valued at about $303,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,094,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,868,750,000 after purchasing an additional 315,916 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 12,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,568,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth $240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $625.00 to $599.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $637.00 to $643.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $613.00.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.0%

S&P Global stock opened at $494.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $149.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $490.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $516.50. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.14 and a 1 year high of $579.05.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. S&P Global had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 27.30%.The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.93%.

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.