Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Smith Moore & CO.

Smith Moore & CO. decreased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 588 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Spire were worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in Spire by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Spire by 18.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 3.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 187,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,899 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 46.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Spire by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 3,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SR. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.64.

Spire Stock Down 4.0 %

SR stock opened at $75.89 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.00. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.27 and a 1-year high of $79.81. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.