Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 1,441 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.36% of Spire worth $14,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Spire in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Spire by 1,318.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

Spire Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE SR opened at $75.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $75.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $69.61 and its 200 day moving average is $67.58.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. 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.