William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 22,247 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Spire Inc. by 7.2%, selling 22,247 shares and now holds approximately 0.48% of the company valued at $20.87 million.
• Spire recently reported earnings of $0.01 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 1.9%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, marking an annual yield of 3.7%, with a payout ratio of 67.82%.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 285,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 22,247 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.48% of Spire worth $20,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at $50,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised 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 valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 66.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 75.2% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 103.8% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Trading Up 0.7%

SR opened at $85.47 on Monday. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.87 and a 1-year high of $86.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.07.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were paid a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. Spire's payout ratio is 67.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price target (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.36.

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.

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