5 Best Dividend Champions to Buy Now

2. S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66
Dividend Yield: 0.74%
Consecutive Years of Dividend Growth: 48

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) provides ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets across the globe. It ranks 2nd on our list of the best dividend champions to buy now.

This July, S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) was initiated with an Outperform rating at RBC Capital alongside a $476 price target. Analyst Ashish Sabadra commented that S&P Global Inc.’s (NYSE: SPGI) acquisition of IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO) would deliver synergies and accelerate the company’s revenue growth. Morgan Stanley has also raised its price target on the shares from $460 to $476 in the same month, keeping an Overweight rating on S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI).

In the first quarter of 2021, S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) had an EPS of $3.39, beating estimates by $0.31. The company’s revenue was $2.02 billion, up 12.88% year over year and beating estimates by $77.50 million. S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) has a gross profit margin of 72.61% and has gained 31.29% in the past 6 months and 24.44% year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 66 hedge funds out of the 866 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI). The total value of their stakes was roughly $6.24 billion. This is compared to 75 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of approximately $3.80 billion.

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, mentioned S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) in its first-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here’s what they said:

“S&P Global Inc. provides credit ratings, indexes, data, and analytics to the financial and commodities markets. Shares increased on strong fourth quarter results and 2021 guidance that exceeded Street expectations. Although bond issuance is expected to moderate after two years of exceptional growth, management still expects revenue to grow mid-single-digits this year. Also, shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve the merger with IHS Markit. We continue to own the stock as we see a long runway for growth and significant competitive advantages for the company.”