Natixis Advisors L.P. Raises Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 127,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,750 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.23% of Spire worth $7,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Spire by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 627,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,121,000 after buying an additional 349,393 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 65,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,107,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Spire by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 59,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,721,000 after purchasing an additional 27,351 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Spire by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 21,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on SR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $57.50 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company'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 sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Spire Trading Up 0.3 %

Spire stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $61.88. 259,492 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,861. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $69.37. The firm's 50 day moving average is $60.42 and its 200-day moving average is $60.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.86 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 76.26%.

About Spire

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.