Bank of Nova Scotia Reduces Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in S&P Global Inc. by 65.3%, selling 153,918 shares, and now holds only 81,642 shares valued at $41.5 million.
• S&P Global reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.43 per share and generated $3.76 billion in revenue, highlighting a 5.8% increase compared to the previous year.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other brokerages have raised their price targets for S&P Global, with an average price target estimated at $611.69 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 65.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,642 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 153,918 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in S&P Global were worth $41,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 3.1% during the first quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 5,762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,870,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. lifted its stake in S&P Global by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 794 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $544.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $167.11 billion, a PE ratio of 41.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $427.14 and a 12-month high of $558.86. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $520.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $509.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.04 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SPGI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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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