S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.40% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $556.58.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $514.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $460.49. S&P Global has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $528.02. The firm has a market cap of $161.02 billion, a PE ratio of 57.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that S&P Global will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at $715,205.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other S&P Global news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,205.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth about $351,774,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 352.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $206,669,000 after purchasing an additional 360,909 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter valued at approximately $142,526,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in S&P Global by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,115,697,000 after purchasing an additional 298,645 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 5.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,464,951,000 after buying an additional 291,712 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.