AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) by 76.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,490 shares during the quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,000. 99.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:SR opened at $66.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.47. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.52 and a 1 year high of $79.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Spire (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.49. Spire had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $561.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 46.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 62.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut Spire from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Spire from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Spire from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Spire from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Spire from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.25.

About Spire

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Spire Inc operates as a public utility holding company, which provides natural gas service through its utility operations while engaging in non-regulated activities. It operates through the Gas Utility and Gas Marketing Business segments. The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated operations of Laclede Gas Company and Alabama Gas Corporation.