Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stake in Spire Inc. $SR

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 25.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,476 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 103.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,925,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Spire by 27.4% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 20.5% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $82.28 on Monday. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $83.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.67. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.69.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The business had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 67.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on Spire and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.80.

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.