Hennessy Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 9.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $3,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after purchasing an additional 65,486 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Spire by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 837,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,185,000 after purchasing an additional 19,032 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 677,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,225,000 after buying an additional 28,474 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 125.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 627,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,121,000 after buying an additional 349,393 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $24,541,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $64.84 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.77 and a 1 year high of $68.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.42) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.755 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,195. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Spire news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven P. Rasche purchased 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,195. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho cut shares of Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

Spire 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.