Deutsche Bank AG Has $6.06 Million Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,355 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 15,769 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.15% of Spire worth $6,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SR. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,970 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Spire by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth $309,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its position in Spire by 133.2% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $254,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $74.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 525,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,783. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $76.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The company's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 77.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities 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, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.40.

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.