South Dakota Investment Council Trims Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 68.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,800 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Spire were worth $534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Spire by 66.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Stock Performance

SR stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.74. The company had a trading volume of 37,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,049. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.23. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.43. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on SR shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 target price on shares of Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

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.