Spire Inc. $SR Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Spire Inc. by 0.2% during Q1, now holding about 10.47% of the company, valued at approximately $483 million.
• Spire recently reported earnings topping expectations with a net margin of 11.56% and revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, which is a 1.9% increase from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785, which will be paid on October 2nd, representing an annualized yield of 4.1%.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,177,822 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,601 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.47% of Spire worth $483,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SR. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Spire by 2,648.0% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 687 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 66.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.20.

Spire Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE SR traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $75.32. 52,760 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,496. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50 day moving average is $74.66 and its 200-day moving average is $75.08. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.27 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.