12,088 Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Purchased by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $734,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $66.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.90. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.52. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.77 and a twelve month high of $68.02.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.42) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.26%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SR. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.50.

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.