Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 4,062 Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Spire by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,614,000 after acquiring an additional 28,715 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Spire by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,643 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $1,592,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $3,198,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Spire by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,127 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.40.

Spire Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Spire stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, hitting $74.43. The company had a trading volume of 502,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,318. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.62. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $79.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.84 and a 200-day moving average of $73.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Spire had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The business's revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.34%.

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.