Spire Inc. $SR Stock Position Raised by Dean Capital Management

Key Points

• Dean Capital Management increased its stake in Spire Inc. by 57.4% during the first quarter, making it the firm's 5th largest position with a reported value of approximately $3.06 million.
• Spire's recent earnings report indicated a profit of $0.01 EPS, beating expectations and reflecting a 1.9% revenue growth year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.2%, with payment scheduled for October 2nd.

Dean Capital Management grew its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 57.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,118 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,270 shares during the period. Spire makes up about 1.3% of Dean Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Dean Capital Management owned about 0.07% of Spire worth $3,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Spire by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,381,000 after purchasing an additional 229,662 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the 1st quarter worth $73,254,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Spire during the 1st quarter worth $69,889,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Spire by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 836,521 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,741,000 after acquiring an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Spire by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 638,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,343,000 after acquiring an additional 38,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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 reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.20.

Spire Stock Down 0.2%

SR stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.10. 523,639 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 396,559. The firm's 50 day moving average is $75.74 and its 200 day moving average is $75.42. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $79.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.14) EPS. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Spire's dividend payout ratio 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.