Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.55 Million Investment in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Spire, buying 17,100 shares worth about $1.55 million in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with large holders like Vanguard and State Street also adding to their Spire stakes; institutions now own 87.36% of the company.
• Spire’s latest earnings beat EPS expectations, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, implying a 4.2% yield.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 17,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $531,791,000 after acquiring an additional 19,326 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Spire by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $247,162,000 after purchasing an additional 61,851 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,672,000 after purchasing an additional 47,106 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,240,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $102,581,000 after purchasing an additional 20,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,123,220 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $92,890,000 after purchasing an additional 462,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $78.46 per share, for a total transaction of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. The trade was a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $251,100. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

Spire Stock Up 0.1%

SR stock opened at $78.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.33. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.24 and a 1-year high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Spire's payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc NYSE: SR, formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire's service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.

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