UPDATE: Raymond James Upgrades S&P Global (SPGI) to Outperform

Raymond James analyst Patrick O'Shaughnessy upgraded S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) from Market Perform to Outperform with a price target of $402.00.

THe analyst comments "We are upgrading shares of S&P Global to Outperform from Market Perform, and introducing a target price of $402. Entering 2021 investor focus on the business has largely been on the tough comps facing S&P Ratings following 16% revenue growth in 2020 as well as rising interest rates. However, 1Q21 issuance continues to be quite healthy and there's no sign yet that elevated financial leverage is weighing on debt appetite of global corporations. Beyond the ratings business, we expect that S&P will aggressively return to the share repurchase market later in 2021 once its pending acquisition of IHS Markit closes and note that its cash balance ballooned to $4.1 billion by 2020 year-end. Lastly, on the valuation front S&P's shares are down 2% over the past six months and trade ~1.3x the S&P 500 market multiple, substantially below the 1.4-1.5x at which they traded for much of the past two years."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on S&P Global click here. For more ratings news on S&P Global click here.

Shares of S&P Global closed at $352.87 yesterday.

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