630 Shares in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Bought by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired a new stake in S&P Global Inc., purchasing 630 shares valued at approximately $320,000 in the first quarter.
• Several prominent institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Northern Trust Corp, have increased their stakes in S&P Global, with a combined institutional ownership of 87.17% of the stock.
• S&P Global reported earnings of $4.43 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a $0.96 quarterly dividend set to be paid on September 10th.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased a new stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 630 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,779,003 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,130,711,000 after purchasing an additional 108,729 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,071,407 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,529,653,000 after purchasing an additional 357,790 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,762,187 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,403,468,000 after purchasing an additional 97,324 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,184,312 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,087,853,000 after purchasing an additional 224,294 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI stock opened at $559.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $527.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $511.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $170.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $427.14 and a 52-week high of $566.42.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 27.30%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.04 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. S&P Global's payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SPGI. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on S&P Global from $604.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on S&P Global from $632.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $611.69.

S&P Global Company 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.

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