Atria Investments Inc Purchases 583 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Spire were worth $315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Spire Trading Up 0.2 %

SR opened at $76.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.49 and a 200 day moving average of $68.90. 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 $78.80. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

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.