Bank of Montreal Can Cuts Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 801,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 84,321 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $398,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 911 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth about $478,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 15,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $451.47 on Monday. 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 $141.69 billion, a PE ratio of 36.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $405.23 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $513.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $509.15.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.