Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $3.01 Million Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• Squarepoint Ops LLC reduced its Spire stake by 61.5% in the second quarter, selling 61,489 shares and retaining 38,562 shares valued at approximately $3.01 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.36% of Spire.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Spire receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $94.00, above its reported opening price of $80.33.
• Spire reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including revenue growth of 19.2% year over year, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 4.1%.

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 61.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,562 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 61,489 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.07% of Spire worth $3,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 519 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research set a $101.00 price objective on Spire in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Spire from $96.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.00.

Spire Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $80.33 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.81 and a 12-month high of $95.31. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $81.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.54.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.06. Spire had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $420.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 36.79%.

Spire Profile

Spire Inc is an energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its regulated utility operations, the company distributes natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in Missouri and Alabama, serving communities through local natural gas infrastructure and related customer services.

Spire also operates businesses involved in natural gas marketing, storage and pipeline transportation. These operations support the company's utility activities and provide natural gas supply, logistics and infrastructure services to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and other market participants.

The company traces its history to 1857, when it was established as Laclede Gas Company.

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