Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $1.75 Million Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000. Spire comprises about 0.6% of Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter worth $69,889,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,432,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Spire by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,381,000 after purchasing an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $12,567,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Spire stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 347,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,393. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.62. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $79.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.83 and a 200 day moving average of $73.98.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. The company's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. Spire's payout ratio is 77.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on shares of Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

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.