Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 14,800 Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SR. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 11.2% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 61,791 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,496,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,789 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Spire by 85.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 48,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,724,000 after buying an additional 22,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 5.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SR traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.40. 360,546 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 496,977. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $69.99. 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 company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.98.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SR. UBS Group started coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $57.50 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the transaction, the treasurer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

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.