Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $157,000 Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Spire were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Spire by 2.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 17.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Spire by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $76.90 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.00. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.27 and a 12-month high of $76.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.