LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Acquires 1,749 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in S&P Global by 5.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,749 shares for a total of 31,645 shares valued at approximately $16.08 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for S&P Global, with Barclays predicting a target of $620 and Wells Fargo raising their target to $660, indicating positive sentiment on the stock.
• S&P Global announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96 per share to be paid on September 10th, giving it a yield of 0.7% with a payout ratio of 29.54%.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,645 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the quarter. S&P Global comprises approximately 1.4% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $16,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 74,479 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,093,000 after buying an additional 2,413 shares during the period. GHE LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 13,504 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,725,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 60,091 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,920,000 after buying an additional 8,128 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $2.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $560.58. 158,428 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $427.14 and a 52-week high of $579.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $528.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $512.02. The company has a market capitalization of $171.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.04 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $611.69.

About S&P Global

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.