Norges Bank Makes New $46.23 Million Investment in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in Spire Inc., buying 558,956 shares worth about $46.23 million in the fourth quarter and owning roughly 0.95% of the company.
• Spire continues to draw heavy institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning 87.36% of the stock; several large firms, including Vanguard, State Street, and Geode, also increased their holdings.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a consensus price target of $96.22, while Spire also recently posted quarterly EPS above estimates and declared a $0.825 quarterly dividend yielding about 4.1%.

Norges Bank bought a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 558,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $46,226,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.95% of Spire as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Spire by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $247,162,000 after buying an additional 61,851 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Spire by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,672,000 after buying an additional 47,106 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Spire by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,468,000 after buying an additional 85,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Spire by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,021,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,303,000 after buying an additional 14,740 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set 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 four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.22.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $80.50 per share, with a total value of $40,250.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $603,750. The trade was a 7.14% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR opened at $80.46 on Tuesday. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.24 and a 52 week high of $95.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $88.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.10.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Spire's dividend 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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