Greenleaf Trust Increases Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,894 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the quarter. S&P Global comprises approximately 0.3% of Greenleaf Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $26,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in S&P Global by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in S&P Global by 45.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on S&P Global from $460.00 to $442.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $462.00.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.2 %

SPGI stock traded down $0.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $412.56. 1,130,770 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,307,911. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $425.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $415.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.23, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $338.92 and a 52-week high of $461.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.54 EPS. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.08 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 44.23%.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total value of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.