Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 122,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 897 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Spire were worth $7,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,968,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,254,000 after acquiring an additional 52,893 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,936,000 after buying an additional 36,022 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,123,000 after buying an additional 1,951,969 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Spire by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 788,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,624,000 after buying an additional 161,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Spire by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,127,000 after buying an additional 80,405 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.72.

Spire Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SR traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.40. The company had a trading volume of 360,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 496,977. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.77 and a 52-week high of $69.99.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.88 million. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.