Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Raises Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 26,248 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned about 0.25% of Spire worth $11,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Spire by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Spire by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 207,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 64,097 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,348,000 after purchasing an additional 3,758 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Spire by 90.8% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 15,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 7,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in Spire by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 30,902 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,096,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $72.41. The stock had a trading volume of 592,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,258. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.23 and a 12-month high of $79.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.11.

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

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is 77.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SR. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.