Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Buys Shares of 893,162 Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 893,162 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $69,889,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.53% of Spire at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth $42,432,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Spire by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,381,000 after acquiring an additional 229,662 shares during the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth $12,567,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Spire by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 722,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,026,000 after buying an additional 139,815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SR. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.20.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of Spire stock traded down $1.15 on Friday, hitting $72.16. 342,844 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,866. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.13. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $79.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is presently 77.34%.

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.