EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. Buys Shares of 1,652,585 S&P Global Inc. $SPGI

EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. purchased a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,652,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $702,911,000. S&P Global accounts for about 5.6% of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. owned 0.56% of S&P Global as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $2,398,991,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 858.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 1,760,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $919,879,000 after buying an additional 1,576,544 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 2,256.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $755,996,000 after buying an additional 1,385,249 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 260.3% during the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 1,688,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $718,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,990 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,037,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,587,910,000 after acquiring an additional 922,433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SPGI shares. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $490.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $495.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $565.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $533.59.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $439.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $130.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $423.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $440.76. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $381.61 and a fifty-two week high of $579.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 30.37% and a return on equity of 17.26%. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 18.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a $0.97 dividend. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 24.56%.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 1,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $434.03 per share, with a total value of $500,002.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 1,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $500,002.56. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Catherine R. Clay purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $431.39 per share, with a total value of $1,078,475.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,078,475. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders bought 5,974 shares of company stock valued at $2,576,775. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Profile

S&P Global is a leading provider of financial information, analytics and benchmark indices that serve investors, issuers, corporations and public institutions worldwide. The company operates through well-known businesses that include credit ratings, market intelligence and index licensing, as well as commodity and energy information services. Its products and services are used to assess creditworthiness, inform investment decisions, construct and track benchmark portfolios, and support risk and commodity market analysis.

S&P Global Ratings provides independent credit ratings, research and data used by fixed income investors and capital market participants to evaluate issuer and transaction risk.