Rhumbline Advisers Grows Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 207,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Spire were worth $14,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $787,000. Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,067,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 116.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 15,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in Spire by 175.5% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 15,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 9,962 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:SR opened at $75.11 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $75.70. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.58.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

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.