Federated Hermes Inc. Has $243,000 Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Spire by 81.9% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 206.6% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter worth $220,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho downgraded Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.72.

Spire Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of SR opened at $61.31 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.77 and a 12 month high of $69.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.22 and its 200-day moving average is $60.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.05%. Spire’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.70 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Spire Company 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.