Eagle Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,936 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Corp MA ADV raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 2,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. grew its stake in S&P Global by 25.0% in the third quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.4% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 2.5% during the second quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $571.31.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE:SPGI opened at $520.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $509.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $483.13. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month high of $533.29. The firm has a market cap of $161.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.21 EPS. On average, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.13%.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates through S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.