Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $11.45 Million Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 11.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,097 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.29% of Spire worth $11,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Spire by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,535,000 after acquiring an additional 44,969 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Spire by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Spire by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,351,000 after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,231,000 after purchasing an additional 36,214 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,439,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Down 0.6 %

SR opened at $67.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $73.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.57.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $3.14 dividend. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.71%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

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.