Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 81.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 99,929 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Spire were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Spire by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,915 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 9,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Spire by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Price Performance

SR stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.41. 592,543 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,702. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $74.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.63. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.19 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. Research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on SR shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Spire from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Spire 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.