BankPlus Trust Department Buys New Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 81 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in S&P Global by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,632,000 after purchasing an additional 225,370 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management grew its stake in S&P Global by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its stake in S&P Global by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,170,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on SPGI shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.23.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $533.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $164.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $511.35 and a 200 day moving average of $510.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $407.69 and a one year high of $545.39.

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

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

About S&P Global

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.