Cooper Financial Group Buys Shares of 500 S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• Cooper Financial Group has made a new investment of $254,000 in S&P Global Inc., acquiring 500 shares in the first quarter, as disclosed in their recent SEC filing.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for S&P Global, with Barclays raising their target from $610 to $620, while Wells Fargo increased theirs from $632 to $660, resulting in a consensus price target of $611.69.
• S&P Global recently reported earnings of $4.43 per share and a revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 5.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

Cooper Financial Group acquired a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 500 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in S&P Global by 41.8% during the 1st quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 145,264 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,809,000 after buying an additional 42,812 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,116,000. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in S&P Global by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 31,618 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,065,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Family Office LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 1st quarter valued at about $827,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded up $3.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $562.53. 1,047,388 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,197,488. The company has a market cap of $171.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $566.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $528.18 and a 200 day moving average of $512.02.

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 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.04 earnings per share. S&P Global's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued 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 yield of 0.7%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SPGI. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $611.69.

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.