Swiss National Bank Has $7.70 Million Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of Spire worth $7,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commerce Bank increased its stake in Spire by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 24,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,627,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at $790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after acquiring an additional 36,214 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Spire by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $76.31 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.30 and its 200 day moving average is $69.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.03%.

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.