9,027 Shares in Spire Inc. $SR Acquired by Sciencast Management LP

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Spire Inc., purchasing 9,027 shares valued at approximately $706,000 during the first quarter.
• Spire's recent earnings report revealed a profit of $0.01 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations, and showing a 1.9% revenue growth year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, with a payout ratio of 67.82% and an annual yield of 4.2%.

Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $706,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.7% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 3.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,915 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 21.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,672 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 4.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SR. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price target (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on shares of Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.20.

Spire Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:SR traded down $0.13 on Friday, hitting $76.10. The stock had a trading volume of 523,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $79.81. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $75.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.42.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The firm had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.82%.

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.