185,265 Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Bought by Sourcerock Group LLC

Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 185,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,567,000. Spire comprises approximately 0.9% of Sourcerock Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Sourcerock Group LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Spire at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $42,432,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 722,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,026,000 after buying an additional 139,815 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,079,000 after buying an additional 138,971 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth about $8,277,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $73.50. 398,993 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 393,767. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.40. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.77 and a 52-week high of $79.81. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.34%.

Spire Company 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.