32,105 Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Bought by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 32,105 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,001,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Spire at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 70,596.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,264,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $293,646,000 after buying an additional 4,258,360 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Spire by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,969 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Spire by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,431,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,981,000 after purchasing an additional 742,231 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter worth approximately $149,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Spire by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,252,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $163,065,000 after purchasing an additional 572,381 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

Spire Trading Up 2.5 %

SR traded up $1.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.91. 477,161 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,896. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $53.77 and a one year high of $70.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.84.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.40%.

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.