Renaissance Technologies LLC Invests $3.63 Million in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies opened a new $3.63 million position in Spire, buying 40,100 shares and owning approximately 0.07% of the utility.
• Institutional investors control 87.36% of Spire’s shares, while recent insider activity was mixed: a director purchased 500 shares and a senior vice president sold 3,822 shares.
• Spire reported quarterly revenue of $420.2 million and adjusted EPS of $0.26, beating estimates, and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share—a 4.0% annualized yield. Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $94.50.

Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 40,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,631,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.07% of Spire as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,672,000 after acquiring an additional 47,106 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,240,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,581,000 after acquiring an additional 20,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,123,220 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $92,890,000 after acquiring an additional 462,500 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. The trade was a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on SR shares. TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research set a $101.00 price target on Spire in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.50.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR opened at $82.12 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.91 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The stock's 50-day moving average is $80.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.94. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.06. Spire had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 21.48%.The business had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Spire's payout ratio is presently 36.79%.

About Spire

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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