Values First Advisors Inc. Takes Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 530 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,434,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,786,766,000 after purchasing an additional 282,966 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,579,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,769,787,000 after purchasing an additional 881,215 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,658,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,067,807,000 after purchasing an additional 428,737 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,727,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth about $1,112,935,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total transaction of $2,548,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded up $2.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $424.91. 1,881,566 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,347,971. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $136.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.77, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $433.47 and its 200-day moving average is $410.64. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $329.46 and a 52 week high of $461.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 11.34%. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.54 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 44.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, February 9th. Raymond James upped their target price on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $446.25.

About S&P Global

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, and S&P Dow Jones Indices segments.