Spire Inc. $SR is Dean Capital Management's 5th Largest Position

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 raised its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 57.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,118 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 14,270 shares during the period. Spire comprises 1.3% of Dean Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Dean Capital Management owned approximately 0.07% of Spire worth $3,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $309,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Spire by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,970 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Spire by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 89,355 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,061,000 after buying an additional 15,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 9,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 3,449 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Spire and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.20.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $76.10. 523,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 391,986. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.37. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $417.27 million. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

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

Spire Profile

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.