Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 91.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,744 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Spire were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Spire by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,535,000 after buying an additional 44,969 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 5.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after buying an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after buying an additional 36,214 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Spire by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,802,000 after buying an additional 106,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Spire by 0.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 646,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,483,000 after buying an additional 1,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $76.39 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.46. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.27 and a 12-month high of $78.80.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SR shares. Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.