AlphaQuest LLC Sells 27,142 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 96.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 27,142 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.67.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $76.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $78.80. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.03.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 76.03%.

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.