Intech Investment Management LLC Makes New $790,000 Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the second quarter worth about $2,233,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $787,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 197.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,850,000 after purchasing an additional 107,662 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 116.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 12.4% during the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 288,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,511,000 after buying an additional 31,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.93.

Spire Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $73.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.36 and a 52 week high of $73.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.85%.

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.