Cerity Partners LLC Sells 661 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 2.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 661 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its stake in Spire by 28.6% in the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Spire by 33.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.93.

Spire Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of SR stock opened at $72.40 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.33. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.36 and a 52 week high of $73.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.35%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.