Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,569 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,543 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of Spire worth $8,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SR. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Spire during the first quarter worth about $706,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the first quarter worth about $156,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Spire during the first quarter worth about $533,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Spire by 110.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 522,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,872,000 after buying an additional 274,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Spire by 43.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 234,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,383,000 after buying an additional 71,094 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have issued reports on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price target (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on shares of Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.20.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Spire
Spire Trading Down 0.2%
NYSE SR traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 523,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,559. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.42. The stock has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.27.
Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.27 million. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.14) EPS. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Spire Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. 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 presently 67.82%.
About Spire
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Spire, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Spire wasn't on the list.
While Spire currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
With the proliferation of data centers and electric vehicles, the electric grid will only get more strained. Download this report to learn how energy stocks can play a role in your portfolio as the global demand for energy continues to grow.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
