Essex Financial Services Inc. Reduces Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 417 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SPGI. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in S&P Global by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,632,000 after buying an additional 225,370 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,170,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $587.92.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $539.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a market capitalization of $166.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.64, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $506.92 and a 200-day moving average of $506.78.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.