Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 79.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,430 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Spire were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Spire by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 9,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Spire by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.40.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $74.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,917. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day moving average is $75.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.69. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.34%.

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.