Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.93 Million Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.30% of Spire worth $13,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 103.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 16.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the first quarter worth $216,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Spire by 27.4% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 20.5% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 489,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 412,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.43. The business's fifty day moving average price is $73.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.62. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $79.81.

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). The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Spire's payout ratio is presently 77.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued 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, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.60.

Spire 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.