OLD Republic International Corp Purchases 4,500 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

OLD Republic International Corp increased its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 433,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. OLD Republic International Corp owned 0.74% of Spire worth $33,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 4.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,925,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,093 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter worth approximately $661,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Spire by 1.8% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 51,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,028,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Trading Down 0.2%

SR traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $73.93. 448,962 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,491. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.53. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.64 and a 1-year high of $79.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). Spire had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. Spire's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.