Yousif Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $1,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,168,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,390,000 after buying an additional 46,434 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Spire by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,381,000 after buying an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Spire by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,028,000 after buying an additional 15,835 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Spire by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 845,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,358,000 after buying an additional 97,573 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Spire by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 836,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,741,000 after buying an additional 42,934 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $72.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.13. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.20.

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.