Sei Investments Co. Purchases 15,854 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,854 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Spire were worth $14,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,228,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,277,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 106,386 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 731,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,630,000 after purchasing an additional 85,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $78.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

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.