Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 706,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,742 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.21% of Spire worth $47,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Spire by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE SR traded down $0.34 on Monday, reaching $77.27. The stock had a trading volume of 10,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,564. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.74. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.77 and a 12-month high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Seven investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.70.

Spire Company 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.