Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $529,000 Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,228,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $8,277,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after buying an additional 71,798 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Spire by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,360,000 after buying an additional 61,357 shares during the period. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,067,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target 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 lifted their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $76.90 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.00. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $76.96.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued 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 4.08%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.