Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 11,336 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,336 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.06% of Spire worth $2,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 431.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SR shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.20.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR traded down $1.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.19. The stock had a trading volume of 316,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,287. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The business's 50-day moving average price is $75.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.13.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is presently 77.34%.

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.