S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Short Interest Up 24.6% in October

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,450,000 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the October 15th total of 3,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James cut shares of S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $571.31.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dupont Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 27.1% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 28,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at about $74,000. Nwam LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 45.5% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in S&P Global by 38.9% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 14,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,252,000 after buying an additional 4,114 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded down $5.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $505.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 244,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,205,140. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global has a 1-year low of $401.79 and a 1-year high of $533.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $510.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 15.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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

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.