Cibc World Markets Corp Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 5.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $4,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth about $790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after buying an additional 36,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Spire by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on SR shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America started coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Spire Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $76.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

About Spire

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.