Royal Bank of Canada Increases S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Price Target to $552.00

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $500.00 to $552.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on SPGI. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on S&P Global from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $526.73.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE SPGI opened at $490.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $454.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $438.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.44 billion, a PE ratio of 54.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.16. S&P Global has a twelve month low of $340.49 and a twelve month high of $502.95.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 14.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In related news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at $715,205.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other S&P Global news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,205.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,496,816.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janney Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 17,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,403,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $618,369,000 after purchasing an additional 190,758 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Finally, Aspiriant LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.