New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Cuts Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board decreased its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $7,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in S&P Global by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,632,000 after purchasing an additional 225,370 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management raised its position in S&P Global by 7.0% in the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its stake 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 worth $24,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter worth $27,170,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

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 $167.49 billion, a PE ratio of 47.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $506.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $506.78.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released 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 firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of S&P Global from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $587.92.

S&P Global Company 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.