7,233 Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Bought by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SR. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,968,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $394,254,000 after purchasing an additional 52,893 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,022 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $198,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,969 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Spire by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 837,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,185,000 after purchasing an additional 19,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Spire by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 788,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,624,000 after purchasing an additional 161,171 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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 for the company. 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 for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.72.

Spire Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SR traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 361,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 320,353. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $69.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.51.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be issued a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.40%.

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.