MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Sells 110,284 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. reduced its stake in Spire Inc. by 33.8%, selling 110,284 shares and ending with 216,396 shares worth approximately $16.93 million.
• Multiple institutional investors are adjusting their positions in Spire, with notable increases from Bayforest Capital (up 2,648%) and GAMMA Investing (up 66%).
• Spire reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.01, exceeding expectations and setting its FY 2025 guidance at $4.40 to $4.60 EPS.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 33.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,396 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 110,284 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned 0.37% of Spire worth $16,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 43.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 234,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,383,000 after buying an additional 71,094 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Spire in the first quarter worth approximately $30,322,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Spire by 64.8% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,541 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,571 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at $1,565,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 523,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. Spire's payout ratio is 67.82%.

Spire Company 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.