Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 675 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Spire were worth $1,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at $3,132,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Spire by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.48. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $75.70.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly 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%. Analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

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.