S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 26th

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 24th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.91 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th.

S&P Global has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 52 consecutive years. S&P Global has a payout ratio of 22.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect S&P Global to earn $16.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.5%.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SPGI stock traded down $3.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $511.44. 130,312 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,215,525. 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 $160.08 billion, a PE ratio of 57.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $500.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $456.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. S&P Global’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that S&P Global will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.18.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, 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 value of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.