Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 236.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,201 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SR. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,152,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,726,000 after acquiring an additional 396,807 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,968,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,254,000 after acquiring an additional 52,893 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,022 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 70,596.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,258,360 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 126.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,951,969 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Spire Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $58.38 on Tuesday. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $70.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.51.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.755 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 81.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.