Allstate Corp Acquires Shares of 9,483 S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,723,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. 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 worth $328,632,000 after acquiring an additional 225,370 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at about $27,170,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $590.86.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $502.33 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $407.69 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $515.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $510.21. The company has a market capitalization of $157.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.67, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 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.