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Here's Why You Should Hold on to S&P Global (SPGI) Stock

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S&P Global Inc. (SPGI - Free Report) has an impressive Growth Score of A. This style score condenses all the essential metrics from a company’s financial statements to get a true sense of quality and sustainability of its growth.

The company has an expected long-term (three to five years) earnings per share growth rate of 10%. Its earnings for 2021 and 2022 are expected to grow 8.8% and 9.4% year over year, respectively.

The stock has gained 15.5% year to date, significantly outperforming the 5.3% rally of the industry it belongs to.

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

What’s Supporting the Rally?

S&P Global’s growth strategy targets improving foundational capabilities and core businesses with a view to enhance and differentiate customer experience. The company is banking on its diverse workforce that helps it attain and apply technology and innovation while constantly improving quality of service to customers. S&P Global continues to focus on disciplined acquisitions, investments and partnerships, and is trying to improve product delivery across multiple channels to fend off growing competition and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on its business.

S&P Global has a strong balance sheet. The company’s cash and cash equivalent of $4.51 billion at the end of first-quarter 2021 was above the debt level of $4.11 billion, implying that it has enough cash to meet its debt burden. Also, the company has no short-term debt to clear off. Moreover, S&P Global's total debt to total capital ratio, which is an indicator of leverage, stood at 0.78, lower than the prior quarter’s reading of 0.87.

Commitment to shareholder returns makes the S&P Global stock a reliable investment to compound wealth over the long term. In 2020, 2019 and 2018, S&P Global paid $645 million, $560 million and $503 million in dividends, respectively. The company repurchased shares worth $1.2 billion both in 2020 and 2019, and $1.7 billion in 2018.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

S&P Global currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Equifax (EFX - Free Report) , Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN - Free Report) and Charles River Associates (CRAI - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

The long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for Equifax, Cross Country Healthcare and Charles River is pegged at 14%, 10.5% and 15.5%, respectively.

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