Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.64% of Spire worth $57,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SR. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $17,511,000 after buying an additional 31,923 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the second quarter valued at $1,445,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the second quarter valued at $734,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the second quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the second quarter valued at $2,116,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 1.2 %

Spire stock opened at $67.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.77 and a 12 month high of $68.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

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

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.