Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 1,348 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. by 6.5% during Q1, holding a total of 22,226 shares valued at approximately $11.3 million.
• S&P Global reported $4.43 earnings per share for Q2, exceeding expectations, with quarterly revenue also surpassing analyst forecasts at $3.76 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.96 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.7%, with the payment scheduled for September 10th.

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,226 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $11,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GHE LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 2.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,841 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,913,000 after buying an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,314 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SPGI. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a 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 report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on S&P Global from $604.00 to $621.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on S&P Global from $632.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 27.30%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 earnings per share. 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%.

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.