Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 10,436 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Spire Inc. by 1.3% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 1.40% of the company, valued at $64.5 million.
• Analysts have given mixed ratings on Spire, with a consensus of "Hold" and a price target of $79.20, while the stock price recently declined to $75.81.
• Spire has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, reflecting a 4.1% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 67.82%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 824,211 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,436 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.40% of Spire worth $64,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SR. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 16,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Spire by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 58,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,936,000 after buying an additional 10,402 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,996 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,198,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 827.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SR shares. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.20.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR traded up $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.32. 52,760 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 455,496. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $417.27 million. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. Spire's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.14) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.82%.

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.