iA Global Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 73,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,352 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $36,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after buying an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after buying an additional 369,598 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $144,091,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,581,580,000 after buying an additional 292,436 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SPGI. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.86.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $495.40 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $513.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $510.62. The company has a market capitalization of $152.48 billion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.09%.

S&P Global Profile

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.