Citigroup Initiates Coverage on S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI)

Research analysts at Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 23.31% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on SPGI. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $575.14.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI stock opened at $486.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. S&P Global has a 1 year low of $407.69 and a 1 year high of $533.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $507.65 and a 200 day moving average of $492.26. The company has a market cap of $150.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.94, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that S&P Global will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in S&P Global by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 365,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,948,000 after acquiring an additional 15,456 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 13.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 359,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,762,000 after purchasing an additional 43,864 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in S&P Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,170,000. American Trust boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 76.2% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 2,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in S&P Global by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 27,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,332,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.