Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Stock Holdings Boosted by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Spire were worth $990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SR opened at $65.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $68.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.34.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $414.10 million for 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%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.42) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 76.26%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In related news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at $393,195. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,195. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho downgraded shares of Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

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.