Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $3,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in S&P Global by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of SPGI opened at $530.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $164.75 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $506.13 and a 200 day moving average of $506.36. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $542.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. 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 0.72%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SPGI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on S&P Global from $564.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.85.

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.