Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Sells 16,482 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 187,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,482 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.32% of Spire worth $12,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Spire by 1,318.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $71.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.57. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $73.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.40.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.51%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on SR shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.93.

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.