Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $71,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,321,000 after purchasing an additional 65,486 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Spire by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after buying an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Spire by 11.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Spire by 1.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 644,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,142,000 after buying an additional 10,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Spire by 0.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 501,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on SR shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $473,899.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the business’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 value of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,470. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $64.48 on Thursday. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.69 and a 12-month high of $68.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.73 and a 200 day moving average of $63.22.

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

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.