Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in S&P Global Inc. $SPGI

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 101,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,417 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $49,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centerpoint Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 2.5% during the third quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.3% during the third quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 2,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 8.9% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 4,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 2.3% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,712,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 8.4% in the third quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,593,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SPGI. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $625.00 to $599.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $620.00 to $627.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $637.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on S&P Global from $629.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.57.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $444.25 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $515.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $514.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.14 and a 52 week high of $579.05. The stock has a market cap of $134.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The business services provider reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.04. S&P Global had a net margin of 28.10% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.97 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 27.93%.

About S&P Global

S&P Global is a leading provider of financial information, analytics and benchmark indices that serve investors, issuers, corporations and public institutions worldwide. The company operates through well-known businesses that include credit ratings, market intelligence and index licensing, as well as commodity and energy information services. Its products and services are used to assess creditworthiness, inform investment decisions, construct and track benchmark portfolios, and support risk and commodity market analysis.

S&P Global Ratings provides independent credit ratings, research and data used by fixed income investors and capital market participants to evaluate issuer and transaction risk.