Sciencast Management LP Acquires Shares of 9,027 Spire Inc. $SR

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 acquired a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $706,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $309,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Spire by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Spire by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,970 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Spire by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 89,355 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,061,000 after acquiring an additional 15,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 9,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Spire Price Performance

NYSE:SR traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.10. The stock had a trading volume of 523,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,986. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $79.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.41.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.