Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 47,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,198,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.08% of Spire as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 431.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.00.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $77.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.47.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

About Spire

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.