Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Acquired by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.75% of Spire worth $69,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 127.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,360,000 after purchasing an additional 61,357 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Spire by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.20.

Spire Stock Up 0.8%

Spire stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.39. 496,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,599. The company's fifty day moving average price is $75.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.75. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is 77.34%.

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.