Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $16.24 Million Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the quarter. S&P Global comprises 2.4% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $16,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 103.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in S&P Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $520.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $533.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $509.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $483.13.

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

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $571.31.

S&P Global 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.