Larson Financial Group LLC Has $36,000 Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 1,318.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Spire by 7.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Spire by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 58,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,563,000 after buying an additional 6,284 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 8.9% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Spire by 132.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 38,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,364,000 after acquiring an additional 21,948 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $73.19 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $56.36 and a one year high of $73.64. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.49 and a 200-day moving average of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.16%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 72.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.93.

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.