Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $1.96 Million Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Spire were worth $1,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Spire by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Spire by 817.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 159.2% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.25.

Spire Stock Performance

SR opened at $60.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.51. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.77 and a 1 year high of $70.60.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $756.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.88 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. Spire’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

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

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.