Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 98.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 358 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 24,557 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Spire were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 431.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Spire by 827.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Spire stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.98. 263,889 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 431,744. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.27 and a 12-month high of $79.81. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $74.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Spire's payout ratio is currently 77.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.40.

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.