Short Interest in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Declines By 16.0%

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the December 15th total of 3,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded up $8.43 during trading on Thursday, hitting $504.95. 1,215,774 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,399,137. The stock has a market cap of $156.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.57, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.20. 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 has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $533.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $504.61 and its 200-day moving average is $500.36.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.21 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that S&P Global will post 15.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup started coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $583.62.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,632,000 after buying an additional 225,370 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management increased its stake in S&P Global by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,170,000. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.9% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 47,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.