Boston Partners Has $2.14 Million Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Boston Partners decreased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,466 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Spire were worth $2,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SR. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Spire by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Spire by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $76.31 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.30 and its 200-day moving average is $69.16. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 76.03%.

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.