Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Stock Price

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $570.00 to $595.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $573.23.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE SPGI opened at $513.00 on Thursday. S&P Global has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $533.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $509.41 and a 200-day moving average of $489.88. The company has a market capitalization of $159.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that S&P Global will post 15.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 32.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&P Global

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in S&P Global during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the second quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Company Profile

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.