ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Reduces Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,612 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned 0.13% of Spire worth $5,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings 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 worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire by 26.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $75.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.00. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SR. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.64.

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.