Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Stock Price

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $599.00 to $608.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on S&P Global from $570.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on S&P Global from $564.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $586.85.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $530.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.75 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $506.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $506.36. S&P Global has a twelve month low of $407.69 and a twelve month high of $542.00.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly 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 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 15.34 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 32.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&P Global

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in S&P Global by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,632,000 after purchasing an additional 225,370 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 7.0% in the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,134,000 after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth $27,170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.