Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 28 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 700.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 72 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPGI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on S&P Global in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.86.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $480.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $150.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $408.84 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $492.37 and a 200 day moving average of $503.10.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 31.09%.

S&P Global 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.