MQS Management LLC Has $354,000 Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 7.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Spire during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter worth $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Spire by 26.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the first quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its stake in Spire by 28.6% during the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SR. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.19.

Spire Stock Up 0.4 %

Spire stock opened at $65.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.52. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.36 and a 52-week high of $68.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.51.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $3.14 dividend. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 19.04%. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 72.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The trade was a 6.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.86% 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 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.