SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 9,659 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 449.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,659 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Spire were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 431.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 66.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.40.

Spire Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE SR traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.82. 818,157 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 405,568. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.27 and a 52-week high of $79.81. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). Spire had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.34%.

About Spire

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.