Magellan Asset Management Ltd Grows Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,737 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Spire worth $2,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 70,596.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,264,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,646,000 after buying an additional 4,258,360 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at $149,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Spire by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,252,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,065,000 after buying an additional 572,381 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,032,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Spire by 68.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 762,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,715,000 after acquiring an additional 308,550 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of SR stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.76. The stock had a trading volume of 43,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,281. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.77 and a 12-month high of $75.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $57.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The utilities provider reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by ($0.14). Spire had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $310.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $337.48 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.66) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 8th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Spire to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 Friday. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $66.00 in a report on Friday, September 29th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Spire from $65.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.50.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.95 per share, for a total transaction of $30,475.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,475. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.82 per share, for a total transaction of $95,542.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,665 shares in the company, valued at $1,068,375.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.95 per share, for a total transaction of $30,475.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $30,475. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 4,600 shares of company stock valued at $184,717 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

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 two segments, Gas Utility and Gas Marketing. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas.