Phocas Financial Corp. Purchases Shares of 45,903 Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. initiated a new stake in Spire Inc., buying 45,903 shares valued at about $3.80 million and representing roughly 0.08% of the company, according to its latest 13F filing.
• Spire beat Q4 EPS expectations with $1.77 EPS (vs. $1.62 est.) and reported revenue of $762.2M (up 13.9% YoY but below estimates), and set FY2026 guidance of $5.25–5.45 and FY2027 guidance of $5.65–5.85 EPS.
• Spire pays a quarterly dividend of $0.825 ($3.30 annual, 3.6% yield) with a 71.7% payout ratio; institutional investors own 87.36% of the stock and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a target price near $92.78 (several price targets up to $100).

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 45,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,796,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.08% of Spire at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,411,042 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $522,628,000 after acquiring an additional 123,584 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Spire by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $247,162,000 after acquiring an additional 61,851 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Spire by 7.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,468,000 after acquiring an additional 85,004 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Spire by 1.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,021,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,303,000 after acquiring an additional 14,740 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Spire by 3.0% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,003,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,786,000 after buying an additional 29,135 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SR opened at $92.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.61. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $69.94 and a one year high of $95.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.84.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.15. Spire had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 10.95%.The firm had revenue of $762.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $785.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. Spire's payout ratio is presently 71.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.78.

Spire 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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