Allianz Asset Management GmbH Decreases Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH has reduced its holdings in Spire Inc. by 48.6%, now owning only 5,590 shares valued at approximately $437,000.
• Several hedge funds have increased their positions in Spire, with Wellington Management Group and Northern Trust Corp making significant purchases to boost their stakes.
• Spire announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, representing a 4.2% dividend yield, with cash payout scheduled for October 2nd.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 48.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,590 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,276 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Spire were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Spire by 29.0% during the 4th 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,028,000 after purchasing an additional 15,835 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Spire during the first quarter worth $69,889,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Spire by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 845,612 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,358,000 after purchasing an additional 97,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 836,521 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,741,000 after purchasing an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SR shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 target price on Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $75.05. The company had a trading volume of 856,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,579. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.66. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $79.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.29 and a 200-day moving average of $74.65.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $417.27 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.14) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.