S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) saw a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,450,000 shares, an increase of 24.6% from the October 15th total of 3,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,581,580,000 after acquiring an additional 292,436 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,473,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,332,016,000 after purchasing an additional 113,146 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after purchasing an additional 369,598 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in S&P Global by 5.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,464,951,000 after purchasing an additional 291,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,826,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,260,665,000 after purchasing an additional 29,227 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded down $7.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $503.29. 1,187,616 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,345,519. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.17 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global has a 52-week low of $401.79 and a 52-week high of $533.29.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 32.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SPGI. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.