Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its holdings in S&P Global Inc. by 67.1% in Q1, leaving them with 1,228 shares worth approximately $624,000.
• Several institutional investors have made recent moves with S&P Global, with firms like Minot DeBlois Advisors and Costello Asset Management taking new stakes.
• S&P Global reported an earnings per share of $4.43 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate and marking a 5.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.76 billion.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 67.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,228 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,509 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter valued at $28,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. 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 research report on Friday, August 1st. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.69.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded down $2.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $556.99. The company had a trading volume of 820,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,181,274. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $566.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $525.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $511.06. The stock has a market cap of $170.05 billion, a PE ratio of 42.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. S&P Global's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. 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 presently 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.