Bank of America Corp DE Sells 87,179 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 466,822 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 87,179 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.80% of Spire worth $31,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 431.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Down 1.6%

SR traded down $1.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $73.03. 17,661 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 391,761. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $76.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.33. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $79.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 77.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.40.

About Spire

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.