Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 14,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Spire by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 24,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Spire by 236.8% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 9,201 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $2,001,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Spire by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,127,000 after buying an additional 80,405 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Spire by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company’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 approximately $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the 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 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 owned by insiders.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $61.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.51. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $69.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.25.

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.