Bank of Montreal Can Sells 3,745 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,745 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.05% of Spire worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,244,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,030,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Spire by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Spire by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,802,000 after acquiring an additional 106,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Spire by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,614,000 after acquiring an additional 28,715 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Stock Up 1.4 %

SR stock traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 402,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,121. The company's fifty day moving average price is $76.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $79.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.70.

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.