Short Interest in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Decreases By 15.8%

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,660,000 shares, a drop of 15.8% from the March 15th total of 3,160,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,725,084,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 60,982.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,139,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,086,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,599 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,525,000 after acquiring an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in S&P Global by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $8.39 during trading on Monday, reaching $454.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,278. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $499.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $504.47. S&P Global has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The firm has a market cap of $142.64 billion, a PE ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that S&P Global will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SPGI shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.86.

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.