Raymond James & Associates Acquires 5,100 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.10% of Spire worth $3,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 5.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,152,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,726,000 after acquiring an additional 396,807 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,968,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,254,000 after buying an additional 52,893 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,936,000 after buying an additional 36,022 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Spire by 70,596.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,264,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,646,000 after buying an additional 4,258,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 126.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,123,000 after buying an additional 1,951,969 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of Spire stock opened at $58.66 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.77 and a 52-week high of $70.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.67 and a 200-day moving average of $59.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.55.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.40%.

Insider Activity at Spire

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SR shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

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.