Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Purchased by Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 268,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,738 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned approximately 0.46% of Spire worth $18,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Spire in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SR opened at $75.09 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.27 and a 1-year high of $78.80. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. Analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors 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 4.18%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. StockNews.com cut shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.