Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 20,422 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 10.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 220,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,422 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $114,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors lifted its position in S&P Global by 5.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,464,951,000 after purchasing an additional 291,712 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.0% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in S&P Global by 13.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,697,000 after purchasing an additional 298,645 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,461,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,682,000 after purchasing an additional 20,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its position in S&P Global by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,458,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,366,000 after purchasing an additional 8,435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $503.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $156.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $510.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.74. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $401.79 and a 12-month high of $533.29.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SPGI. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James cut shares of S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.