Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,354 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.08% of Spire worth $3,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Spire by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 731,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,630,000 after buying an additional 85,476 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Spire by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 460,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,254,000 after purchasing an additional 11,109 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $361,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in Spire by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 85,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,787,000 after purchasing an additional 10,659 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR opened at $77.37 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $78.83.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 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.