AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Spire Inc. by 43.4% in Q1, owning 234,931 shares valued at approximately $18.4 million.
• Spire's recent earnings report showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.01, surpassing consensus estimates, with a revenue increase of 1.9% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, indicating an annualized yield of 4.1%, with a dividend payout ratio of 67.82%.

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 43.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 71,094 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Spire worth $18,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SR. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Spire during the first quarter valued at about $50,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Spire by 2,648.0% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 687 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 66.0% during the first 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. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 103.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on 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 Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.20.

Spire Trading Up 0.1%

SR traded up $0.11 on Monday, hitting $76.25. The company had a trading volume of 436,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,986. The company has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $79.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $75.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.41.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.27 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 11.56%.The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.14) earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.82%.

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.