Here's Why You Should Retain SPGI Stock in Your Portfolio Now

S&P Global, Inc. SPGI stock has had a mixed run over the year. Shares of the company have risen 16.1%, underperforming the 27.7% growth of the Business - Information Services industry it belongs to but outperforming the 10.7% rise of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 7.8% for the current year. It has an impressive earnings surprise history. SPGI’s earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 7.5%.

Factors That Bode Well for SPGI

S&P Global is clearly capitalizing on strong momentum across its core businesses. An 8% year-over-year increase in total revenues in the first quarter of 2025 reflects solid execution and demand across all five divisions. The 7% growth in subscription product revenues, in particular, highlights the strength and resilience of SPGI’s recurring revenue model. This steady expansion underscores the company's ability to deliver consistent value through data, analytics and insight-driven services, even amid evolving market conditions.

The rising demand for pricing and reference data in loan and credit default swap asset classes, along with industry and company data, is driving growth in the Market Intelligence segment. In the Ratings segment, increasing collateralized loan obligation volumes and favorable market conditions are boosting transaction revenues and overall performance.

SPGI continues to leverage strategic acquisitions to drive innovation, expand its content offerings and launch new products. In 2024, the company acquired ProntoNLP to strengthen its textual data analytics capabilities. It also added Visible Alpha and World Hydrogen Leaders to its portfolio. Visible Alpha enhances fundamental investment research on the Capital IQ Pro platform within Market Intelligence, while World Hydrogen Leaders expands Commodity Insights’ global conference business with in-depth coverage of the hydrogen and derivative value chains.

S&P Global’s strategy of conducting share repurchases and paying dividends is impressive. In 2022, 2023 and 2024, the company made share repurchases of $12 billion, $3.3 billion and $18.6 billion, respectively, boosting investors’ morale. It paid out $1 billion, $1.1 billion and $1.1 billion in dividends in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively, attracting dividend-seeking investors. In the third quarter of 2025, SPGI declared a quarterly dividend of 96 cents per share.

SPGI: Risks to Watch

SPGI is facing growing pressure from rising expenses and weak liquidity. Over the past three years, the company’s expenses have steadily increased from $8.2 million in 2022 to $8.4 million in 2023 and further to $8.7 million in 2024. At the same time, its liquidity remains a concern, with the current ratio declining to 0.84 in 2023 before edging slightly up to 0.85 in 2024, still below the 1.0 threshold generally considered healthy. This trend suggests tightening financial flexibility, which could impact the company’s ability to manage short-term obligations if not addressed.

SPGI’s Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

SPGI currently carries a Zack Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Green Dot (GDOT) and AppLovin APP. 

Green Dot sports a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

GDOT has an encouraging earnings surprise history, having outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters and missing twice. The average beat is 5.6%. 

AppLovin currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. 

APP has an encouraging earnings surprise history, outpacing the Zacks Consensus estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. The average beat is 22.9%. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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