Burney Co. Buys Shares of 3,441 Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Key Points

• Burney Co. acquired 3,441 shares of Spire Inc., valued at approximately $269,000, in its first-quarter filing with the SEC.
• Spire's recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $3.60, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $3.70, and a 6.8% decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $78.60 for Spire, with a mix of ratings including one strong buy, three buys, six holds, and one sell.

Burney Co. purchased a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 103.8% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,925,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Spire by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the 1st quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Spire by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

Spire Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of SR traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.07. 1,097,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,388. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $79.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.45. 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 company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.62.

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

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.