S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

SPGI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $536.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $545.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $509.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $508.60.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (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 period last year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 29.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.