Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Purchased by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of Spire worth $1,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SR. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.19.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.63. 82,198 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 416,344. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.15 and a fifty-two week high of $68.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.42) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.26%.

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.