Ascent Group LLC Has $2.26 Million Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in S&P Global by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in S&P Global by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SPGI. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.50.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE:SPGI traded down $0.04 on Monday, reaching $489.78. 1,122,497 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,259,013. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $340.49 and a 52 week high of $498.15. The firm has a market cap of $153.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $450.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.01.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.33. S&P Global had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 40.81%.

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.