Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $215.71 Million Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. $SPGI

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 47.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 507,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 162,654 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $215,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. YANKCOM Partnership raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 632 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in S&P Global by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Embree Financial Group grew its position in S&P Global by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on S&P Global from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore lowered their target price on S&P Global from $625.00 to $560.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price target on S&P Global from $490.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $532.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 1,152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $434.03 per share, for a total transaction of $500,002.56. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $500,002.56. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Martina Cheung acquired 2,322 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $429.93 per share, for a total transaction of $998,297.46. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,518 shares in the company, valued at $11,830,813.74. The trade was a 9.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 5,974 shares of company stock valued at $2,576,775 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $439.14 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $381.61 and a 12 month high of $579.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $419.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $446.36. The stock has a market cap of $129.99 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.08.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.15. S&P Global had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 30.37%.The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. S&P Global has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.400-19.650 EPS. Research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 24.56%.

S&P Global Company Profile

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.