Spire Inc. $SR Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group increased its stake in Spire by 0.3% in Q4 to 6,430,368 shares, representing about 10.88% of the company valued at $531,791,000.
• Wall Street has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy on Spire with a consensus price target of $95.11 (2 Strong Buy, 6 Buy, 3 Hold).
• Spire declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 (annualized $3.30, ~3.7% yield), with an ex-dividend date of June 11 and payment on July 2.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,326 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.88% of Spire worth $531,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Spire by 21.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,923,000 after acquiring an additional 38,875 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,414,000. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in Spire by 131.0% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 37,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,049,000 after acquiring an additional 21,211 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Spire by 30.8% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 374,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,493,000 after acquiring an additional 88,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 5.2% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 550,974 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,915,000 after buying an additional 27,292 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SR. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Spire from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.11.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $90.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.94 and a 12 month high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $762.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $785.54 million. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is currently 71.74%.

About Spire

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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