Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 12,442 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. by 14.9% during the first quarter, resulting in holdings worth $48.76 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, made significant increases in their stakes, highlighting strong interest in S&P Global.
• S&P Global reported a quarterly EPS of $4.43, exceeding estimates, with a 5.8% year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 14.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,973 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,442 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $48,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. raised 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 during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.7% during the first quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 2.8% during the first quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 8.0% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 284 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 5,762 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,870,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SPGI shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price 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. Barclays upped their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on S&P Global from $632.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.69.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE SPGI traded down $2.14 on Friday, reaching $556.99. The stock had a trading volume of 820,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,181,506. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $525.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $511.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.14 and a 1 year high of $566.42. The company has a market capitalization of $170.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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

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.