Millennium Management LLC Grows Stake in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Spire Inc. by 110.4%, owning a total of 522,323 shares after purchasing an additional 274,124 shares during the first quarter.
• Spire Inc. reported a profit of $0.01 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of ($0.09), alongside a revenue of $421.90 million, which was higher than analyst forecasts.
• The company declares a quarterly dividend of $0.785, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.1%, payable on October 2nd to investors recorded by September 11th.

Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 110.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 522,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 274,124 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.89% of Spire worth $40,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Spire by 2,648.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 687 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 66.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 103.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price target (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.20.

Spire Stock Up 0.2%

SR traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $76.26. 27,808 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 450,962. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $79.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $75.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.41.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.27 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 11.56%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

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