Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Grows Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Spire by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 63,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,271 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the first quarter worth about $2,401,000. Finally, American International Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.9% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 98,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 6.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.19.

Spire Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:SR opened at $68.19 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.59. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $68.35.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 72.60%.

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.