Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Spire by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,168,221 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $418,390,000 after acquiring an additional 46,434 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,381,000 after purchasing an additional 229,662 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,028,000 after purchasing an additional 15,835 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Spire by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 845,612 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,358,000 after purchasing an additional 97,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,614,000 after buying an additional 28,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $74.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.77 and a 12 month high of $79.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.90.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire's payout ratio is 77.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.40.

Spire 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.

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