SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 96.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,812 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 48,016 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.17% of Spire worth $8,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in Spire during the third quarter valued at $1,414,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Spire by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 374,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,493,000 after acquiring an additional 88,154 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 594,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,144,000 after acquiring an additional 57,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 7.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently commented on SR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.10.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on SR
Spire Price Performance
Shares of Spire stock opened at $80.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50-day moving average price is $84.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.38. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.24 and a 12 month high of $95.31.
Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.Spire's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Spire Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is presently 58.00%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $627,680. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $251,100. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.
About Spire
(
Free Report)
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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