Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Sells 19,389 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Spire Inc. by 9.5%, selling 19,389 shares during the first quarter and owning approximately 0.31% of the company worth $14.5 million.
• Spire recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.01 EPS, surpassing expectations, with revenue increasing by 1.9% year-over-year to $421.90 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, which will yield 4.0%, with the payment date set for October 2nd for shareholders recorded by September 11th.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 185,411 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 19,389 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Spire worth $14,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 103.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Spire by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,925,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Spire by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Spire by 27.4% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.20.

Spire Stock Performance

SR stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 484,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,781. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $75.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.26. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $79.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.66.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 11.56%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Spire's dividend payout ratio 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.