Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 727,551 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,285 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of S&P Global worth $375,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 1st quarter worth about $351,774,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in S&P Global by 174,815.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 467,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $241,274,000 after buying an additional 466,757 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in S&P Global by 352.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,669,000 after buying an additional 360,909 shares during the period. Third Point LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,526,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in S&P Global by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,697,000 after acquiring an additional 298,645 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SPGI. Raymond James cut S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $571.31.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $507.34 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $510.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $477.05. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $392.69 and a 12-month high of $533.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $157.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.78, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.25 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.