Spire Inc. $SR Shares Sold by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management cut its Spire stake by 10.8% in the first quarter, selling 102,900 shares and leaving it with 851,732 shares worth about $77.1 million.
• Spire insiders were mixed on activity: Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares, while SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares. Overall, insiders own 2.26% of the company.
• Spire reported better-than-expected earnings of $3.76 per share on $1.02 billion in revenue, and it continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, yielding about 4.3% annually.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. decreased its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 851,732 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 102,900 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 1.44% of Spire worth $77,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth $1,414,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 88,154 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $531,791,000 after purchasing an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Spire by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 594,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,144,000 after purchasing an additional 57,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Spire by 7.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,468,000 after buying an additional 85,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $78.46 per share, for a total transaction of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 8,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $627,680. This represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $251,100 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.22.

Spire Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SR opened at $76.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.52. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $85.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.56. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.24 and a twelve month high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

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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