HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 5,304 Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC invested approximately $415,000 in Spire Inc. by purchasing 5,304 shares during the first quarter of the year, reflecting growing institutional interest in the utility provider.
• Spire announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, which will be paid to stockholders on October 2nd, indicating a 4.1% dividend yield.
• Recent analyst ratings for Spire include a mix of upgrades and downgrades, with current consensus being a "Hold" rating and an average price target of $79.20.

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SR. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at about $73,254,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter worth approximately $69,889,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,381,000 after buying an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $74.29. The stock had a trading volume of 99,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 450,861. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.44 and a 200-day moving average of $75.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $421.90 million during 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.14) earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 67.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 target price on shares of Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.20.

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.