Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 94.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,899 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,841 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Spire were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Spire by 431.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.
Spire Price Performance
Shares of SR stock traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $73.04. 25,110 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,492. The stock's 50-day moving average is $76.45 and its 200-day moving average is $71.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65.
Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. Spire's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.
Spire Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.34%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.40.
Read Our Latest Analysis on SR
Spire Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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