American Trust Boosts Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

American Trust boosted its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,518 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. American Trust's holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Sachetta LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $573.23.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI traded down $7.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $505.57. 1,191,811 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,209,018. The company has a market capitalization of $156.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $489.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $533.29.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. S&P Global's payout ratio is 32.13%.

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.