UMB Bank n.a. Increases Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Spire were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 431.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Stock Up 0.9%

SR opened at $74.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.13. 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 $57.77 and a 12 month high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.20.

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.