Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Grows Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 111.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,693 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,584 shares during the quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $3,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in S&P Global by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in S&P Global during the third quarter valued at $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in S&P Global by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in S&P Global by 45.8% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SPGI. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $460.00 to $442.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $462.00.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.3 %

S&P Global stock traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $412.09. 548,849 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,299,634. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $338.92 and a 12 month high of $461.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $425.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $415.25. The company has a market cap of $131.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total transaction of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% 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.