Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Spire Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SR opened at $77.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.08. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

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.