Aquatic Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,922 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $741,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 127.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,360,000 after acquiring an additional 61,357 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at about $994,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Spire by 18.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 289,730 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,496,000 after buying an additional 44,506 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of Spire stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,078. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.77 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.40.

Spire Profile

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas.