Dividend Kings In Focus: S&P Global

Updated on July 10th, 2025 By Felix Martinez

The Dividend Kings are a select group of stocks that have increased their dividends for at least 50 consecutive years. We believe they are among the highest-quality dividend growth stocks to buy and hold for the long term.

With this in mind, we created a full list of all the Dividend Kings. You can download the full list, along with important financial metrics such as dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios, by clicking the link below:

Click here to instantly download your free spreadsheet of all Dividend Kings now, along with important investing metrics.

One of the newest members to join this list is S&P Global (SPGI). S&P Global, like all Dividend Kings, has a very impressive dividend track record. It has paid a dividend every year since 1937 and has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years.

This article will provide an overview of the company’s business, its growth prospects, competitive advantages, and expected returns.

Business Overview

S&P Global is a worldwide provider of financial services and business information. The company traces its roots back to 1917, when McGraw Publishing Company and Hill Publishing Company merged. The company was first named McGraw-Hill Financial. In 1957, McGraw-Hill introduced the S&P 500, the most widely recognized index of all large-cap U.S. stocks.

S&P Global provides financial services to the global capital and commodity markets, including credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and other data, serving commodity market participants, capital markets, and the automotive sector. The company’s five divisions are: Ratings, Market Intelligence, Commodity Insights, Mobility, and S&P Dow Jones Indices.

S&P Global has a highly profitable business model, serving as the industry leader in credit ratings and stock market indexes. This leadership position enables the company to generate high-profit margins and capitalize on growth opportunities.

Source: Investor Presentation

S&P Global reported a record first-quarter revenue of $3.777 billion in 2025, an 8% increase from $3.491 billion in Q1 2024, driven by strong growth across all five divisions, particularly in Ratings and Indices. GAAP net income rose 10% to $1.090 billion, with GAAP diluted EPS up 12% to $3.54, while adjusted net income increased 7% to $1.344 billion, and adjusted diluted EPS grew 9% to $4.37, supported by a 2% reduction in diluted shares outstanding. The company reaffirmed its 2025 guidance, projecting revenue growth of 4%–6%, GAAP diluted EPS of $14.60–$15.10, adjusted diluted EPS of $16.75–$17.25, operating profit margin of 42.5%–43.5% (GAAP) and 48.5%–49.5% (adjusted), and adjusted free cash flow of $5.6–$5.8 billion.

The company announced plans to separate its Mobility division into a standalone public company within 12–18 months, aiming to enhance strategic focus on its core divisions and enable the Mobility business to pursue independent growth in the automotive sector. Additionally, S&P Global plans to divest its OSTTRA Joint Venture for $3.1 billion, expected to close in the second half of 2025, as part of its portfolio optimization strategy. Operating profit margin improved significantly, with GAAP margin up 210 basis points to 41.8% and adjusted margin up 100 basis points to 50.8%, driven by strong performance in Ratings and Indices.

S&P Global prioritized capital return, planning to distribute approximately 85% of its 2025 adjusted free cash flow through dividends and share repurchases, including $650 million in accelerated share repurchases. The company maintained a strong balance sheet, with $1.469 billion in cash and cash equivalents and total assets of $59.889 billion as of March 31, 2025. Despite slightly lowered revenue expectations for Ratings and Indices, S&P Global’s robust Q1 performance and strategic initiatives, including the Mobility separation and OSTTRA divestiture, position it to navigate market uncertainties while delivering value to shareholders.

Growth Prospects

S&P Global has an impressive track record. Over the last ten years, it has grown its earnings per share at a 14.2% compound annual growth rate.

The company’s past growth has been the result of a series of secular trends, which are, in fact, still present today. Since corporate debt has been very popular over the last decade, buoyed by low global interest rates, business ratings have become increasingly important. With the recent increase in interest rates, investors are likely to keep a close eye on these ratings. However, as a result of increased rates, fewer debt issuances arise, negatively impacting S&P Global’s results.

Furthermore, the increasing demand for financial analysis and ETFs is expected to help the company expand its product offerings and earnings.

The company has also been very active in acquisitions and divestments to enhance its business. First, it completed a significant merger with HIS Market in February 2022. In December 2022, it acquired the Shades of Green business from the Center for International Climate Research, expanding S&P Global Ratings’ second-party opinions (SPOs) offering.

Source: Investor Presentation

Leadership has recently stated that they expect to achieve 7% to 9% organic annual revenue growth by 2025–2026. The company also expects to achieve an adjusted operating margin of between 48% and 50%, along with low to mid-teens growth in annual adjusted diluted EPS.

We forecast that S&P Global can grow its earnings per share by 9% over the next five years.

Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance

S&P Global benefits from multiple competitive advantages. The company operates in the highly concentrated financial ratings industry. It is one of only three major credit rating agencies in the U.S. that control over 90% of global financial debt ratings. The other two are Moody’s (MCO) and Fitch Ratings.

The company possesses a strong moat as there are tremendous barriers to entry in its industry. New entrants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to garner the necessary trust from the financial industry and government to become an accepted rating agency.

S&P Global’s competitive advantage and moat enabled it to remain profitable even during the Great Recession, when earnings decreased by -21% to $2.33. While many companies were on the brink of collapse, S&P Global was far from reporting losses.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, S&P Global’s results held up remarkably, and the company achieved new record results year after year.

Valuation & Expected Returns

Based on our estimate for 2025 earnings per share of $17.00 and a current share price of $531, shares of S&P Global are trading at a P/E ratio of 31.2.

This valuation is rich for S&P Global, which has traded for an average P/E ratio of about 23 over the last five years. Our fair value estimate for the company is 29 times earnings, considering its strong recent results.

Shares appear to be overvalued, trading well ahead of our estimates. If shares were to retreat to a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.0 over the next five years, investors would experience a 2.5% reduction in annual returns.

The stock also has a current dividend yield of 0.7%. The dividend is highly secure, with a payout ratio of only 23%. However, the yield is not particularly enticing for income investors.

Combined with the estimated 9% earnings-per-share growth rate, S&P Global is forecasted to generate total returns of 7.2% per year through 2030. Given this rate of return, S&P Global shares are rated a hold.

Final Thoughts

S&P Global has experienced tremendous growth in the last decade. Its competitive advantages and strong position in the rating industry oligopoly will continue to protect the company’s downside. Combined with its strong share buyback program and strategic mergers and acquisitions activity, the company still has a bright future.

The company has now achieved Dividend King status following its 52nd consecutive annual dividend increase. Still, the low dividend yield is not so appealing.

Currently, however, shares are trading at a fair valuation, which reduces the stock’s attractiveness.

Additional Reading

The following databases of stocks contain stocks with very long dividend or corporate histories, ripe for selection for dividend growth investors.

The Dividend Aristocrats List: S&P 500 stocks with 25+ years of dividend increases.
The High Yield Dividend Aristocrats List is comprised of the 20 Dividend Aristocrats with the highest current yields.
The Dividend Achievers List is comprised of ~350 stocks with 10+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
The High Yield Dividend Kings List is comprised of the 20 Dividend Kings with the highest current yields.
The Blue Chip Stocks List: stocks that qualify as Dividend Achievers, Dividend Aristocrats, and/or Dividend Kings
The High Dividend Stocks List: stocks that appeal to investors interested in the highest yields of 5% or more.
The Monthly Dividend Stocks List: stocks that pay dividends every month, for 12 dividend payments per year.
The Dividend Champions List: stocks that have increased their dividends for 25+ consecutive years.
Note: Not all Dividend Champions are Dividend Aristocrats because Dividend Aristocrats have additional requirements like being in The S&P 500.
The Dividend Contenders List: 10-24 consecutive years of dividend increases.
The Dividend Challengers List: 5-9 consecutive years of dividend increases.
The Best DRIP Stocks: The top 15 Dividend Aristocrats with no-fee dividend reinvestment plans.
The High ROIC Stocks List: The top 10 stocks with high returns on invested capital.
The High Beta Stocks List: The 100 stocks in the S&P 500 Index with the highest beta.
The Low Beta Stocks List: The 100 stocks in the S&P 500 Index with the lowest beta.
The Complete List of Russell 2000 Stocks
The Complete List of NASDAQ-100 Stocks

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