Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 36,022 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,022 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.49% of Spire worth $315,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 97.7% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 17,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 8,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 275.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,722,000 after acquiring an additional 229,771 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,968,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,254,000 after acquiring an additional 52,893 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 394.5% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 50,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,838,000 after acquiring an additional 40,023 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 3.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE SR opened at $60.60 on Thursday. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $72.07. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.38 and a 200-day moving average of $59.66.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The business had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.