Signaturefd LLC Buys 227 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 34.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $55,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,969 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Spire by 275.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,898,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Spire by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 788,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,624,000 after acquiring an additional 161,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Spire by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,127,000 after acquiring an additional 80,405 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock opened at $61.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.07. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $69.99.

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. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.88 million. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. Spire’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.40%.

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.