United Services Automobile Association Makes New $289,000 Investment in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association has acquired 3,698 shares of Spire Inc., valued at approximately $289,000, during the first quarter.
• Spire recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.01 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $421.90 million—up 1.9% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, set to pay on October 2nd, representing an annualized yield of 4.1%.

United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,698 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 103.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 2.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,925,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 16.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the first quarter worth $216,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 27.4% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued 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 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.20.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 403,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 453,042. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. The business's fifty day moving average is $75.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.41.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 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.