International Assets Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 32,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,001,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Spire by 81.9% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Spire by 817.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 31.8% in the first quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 159.2% in the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of SR opened at $60.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.81. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $70.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.51.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.88 million. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.25.

Insider Activity at Spire

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

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.