Invesco Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 18.3%, holding 577,193 shares worth approximately $45.17 million after selling off 129,669 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have adjusted their positions in Spire, with Sterling Capital Management notably increasing its stake by 827.9% in the fourth quarter.
• Spire recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, which offers a dividend yield of 4.1% and will be paid on October 2nd.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 18.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 577,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 129,669 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.98% of Spire worth $45,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SR. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Spire by 2,648.0% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 687 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 66.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 103.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 21.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.20.

Spire Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of SR traded up $1.1010 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.1010. 114,729 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 453,559. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $79.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.13. 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 (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The business had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $417.27 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. On average, 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 Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders 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 4.1%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.82%.

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.