Mutual Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 38.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,836 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Spire by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,351,000 after acquiring an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 197.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 21,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Spire by 75.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 6,283 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 127,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,760,000 after buying an additional 28,602 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 290.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,877,000 after buying an additional 97,358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $69.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.92 and its 200 day moving average is $66.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.57. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $73.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $3.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.04%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.85%.

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.