Raymond James Downgrades S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) to Market Perform

Raymond James lowered shares of S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on SPGI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of S&P Global to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $548.18.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $511.72 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $501.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $457.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. S&P Global has a 52-week low of $340.49 and a 52-week high of $528.02. The stock has a market cap of $160.12 billion, a PE ratio of 57.39, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.17.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that S&P Global will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other S&P Global news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other S&P Global news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,662.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in S&P Global by 5.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,464,951,000 after buying an additional 291,712 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,826,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,260,665,000 after acquiring an additional 29,227 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,818,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,241,706,000 after acquiring an additional 12,644 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in S&P Global by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,697,000 after acquiring an additional 298,645 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,467,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,086,952,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.