Dean Investment Associates LLC Sells 26,304 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Dean Investment Associates LLC cut its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 41.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,868 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 26,304 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC owned about 0.06% of Spire worth $2,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,432,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Spire by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,381,000 after acquiring an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Spire by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,079,000 after purchasing an additional 138,971 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at $8,277,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Spire by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,802,000 after buying an additional 106,386 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.70.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR traded down $0.90 on Wednesday, hitting $76.98. The company had a trading volume of 57,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,825. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.19 and a 200 day moving average of $70.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.77 and a 52-week high of $79.81.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.03%.

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.