S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Short Interest Up 25.3% in February

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, an increase of 25.3% from the February 13th total of 2,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.8 %

SPGI stock opened at $490.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $513.54 and a 200-day moving average of $510.73. S&P Global has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 31.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB raised its stake in S&P Global by 11.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 871,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $450,280,000 after buying an additional 92,115 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 911 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in S&P Global by 5.8% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 6.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $231,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

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.