Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Acquired by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Spire were worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 90.8% in the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 15,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 7,386 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Spire by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 64,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,348,000 after purchasing an additional 3,758 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Spire by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 207,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Spire by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $75.11 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, 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 $75.70.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

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.