William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $28.04 Million Holdings in Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management reduced its Spire stake by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 35,034 shares and ending with 339,016 shares valued at about $28.0 million.
• Spire reported better-than-expected earnings of $3.76 per share for the latest quarter, though revenue came in below estimates at $1.02 billion; analysts still expect about 4 EPS for the full year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, equal to a 3.8% yield, while analyst sentiment remains broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $94.90.

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 339,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 35,034 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.57% of Spire worth $28,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $531,791,000 after acquiring an additional 19,326 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $247,162,000 after buying an additional 61,851 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,468,000 after buying an additional 85,004 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,021,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,303,000 after buying an additional 14,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 158.1% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,990,000 after buying an additional 612,500 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Down 0.0%

SR opened at $86.96 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.51. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.24 and a twelve month high of $95.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.56.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.60 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is 58.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price target on Spire in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Spire in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,670. This represents a 40.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Spire

Spire Inc NYSE: SR, formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire's service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.

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