Vanguard Group Inc. Has $346.70 Million Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,561,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,503 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.11% of Spire worth $346,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth $2,001,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $2,130,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,127,000 after buying an additional 80,405 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Spire by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 374,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,364,000 after buying an additional 61,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 125.6% in 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 during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,195. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 1.0 %

SR opened at $60.73 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.62 and a 200-day moving average of $60.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $66.48.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.86 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be issued a $0.755 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SR. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.83.

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.