Smithfield Trust Co Reduces Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Smithfield Trust Co lowered its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 10.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 103.3% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 61 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SPGI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $632.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on S&P Global from $604.00 to $621.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on S&P Global in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $611.69.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $544.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.98. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $558.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.91, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $520.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $509.18.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.54%.

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.