Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $42,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SR. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,001,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 677,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,225,000 after acquiring an additional 28,474 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 17,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 837,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,185,000 after acquiring an additional 19,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,270 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $473,899.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

Spire Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $65.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.52. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $53.77 and a one year high of $68.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.70.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.86 million. Spire had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.42) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

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.