Nuveen Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 836,521 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 42,934 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 1.43% of Spire worth $56,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 431.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Trading Down 1.0%

SR traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $73.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 398,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,251. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.77 and a 52-week high of $79.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Spire's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.40.

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.