Atria Investments Inc Has $273,000 Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Atria Investments Inc cut its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 698 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Spire were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 197.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,850,000 after acquiring an additional 107,662 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 290.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,877,000 after purchasing an additional 97,358 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Spire by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,351,000 after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,439,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 1.2% during 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 last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SR. StockNews.com cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.06.

Spire Trading Up 2.7 %

SR opened at $72.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $72.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $3.14 dividend. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.31%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 72.60%.

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.