Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 9.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $8,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Sachetta LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $522.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $533.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $509.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $484.04. The company has a market capitalization of $162.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.16, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.18.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. Analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SPGI. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $571.31.

About S&P Global

S&P Global Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates through S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.