Natixis Advisors L.P. Increases Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,750 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Spire were worth $7,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,001,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter worth $2,130,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Spire by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,127,000 after acquiring an additional 80,405 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 278,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,738,000 after purchasing an additional 29,666 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE SR opened at $61.67 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $53.77 and a one year high of $69.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.19.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho cut Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 target price for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’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 value of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.