Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Headinvest LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 2.0% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. EWA LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 498 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.3% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in S&P Global by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 674 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SPGI shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho initiated coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.86.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $502.33 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $157.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $515.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $510.21.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its 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 in the previous year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio 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.