Barclays PLC Acquires 34,839 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,211 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 34,839 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.25% of Spire worth $9,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter worth $575,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter worth $994,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 18.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 289,730 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,496,000 after buying an additional 44,506 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Spire stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $77.37. The company had a trading volume of 438,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,548. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.44 and a 200 day moving average of $71.28. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.77 and a 52-week high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Spire's payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.70.

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.