Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.
Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position 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 worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Spire by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.
Spire Stock Down 0.8 %
SR stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $76.98. 12,598 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 386,591. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $76.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.74. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.
Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Spire Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.03%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently commented on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.70.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Spire
Spire 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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Spire, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Spire wasn't on the list.
While Spire currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Today, we are inviting you to take a free peek at our proprietary, exclusive, and up-to-the-minute list of 20 stocks that Wall Street's top analysts hate.
Many of these appear to have good fundamentals and might seem like okay investments, but something is wrong. Analysts smell something seriously rotten about these companies. These are true "Strong Sell" stocks.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
