Legal & General Group Plc Invests $21.94 Million in Spire Inc. $SR

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 280,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,942,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Spire in the second quarter valued at about $37,427,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,323,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Spire during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,170,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in Spire in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,279,000. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the second quarter worth $4,525,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research set a $101.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at $627,680. This represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total value of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Spire

Here are the key news stories impacting Spire this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its Q4 2026 EPS forecast to a loss of $1.00 from a loss of $1.06, while increasing its Q1 2027 estimate to $1.84 from $1.65.
• Positive Sentiment: The research firm lifted its Q2 2028 EPS estimate to $4.27 from $3.89 and its FY2028 forecast to $6.07 from $6.05, suggesting somewhat stronger longer-term earnings potential.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks maintained its $4.01 consensus estimate for Spire’s current fiscal year. The company’s latest quarterly results also exceeded expectations, with revenue up 19.2% year over year and EPS beating the consensus loss estimate.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks reduced its Q3 2027 EPS forecast to $0.10 from $0.13 and its Q4 2027 forecast to a loss of $0.53 from a loss of $0.43.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm lowered its FY2027 EPS forecast to $5.47 from $5.52, and cut its Q1 2028 estimate to $2.06 from $2.15. The largest reduction was to Q3 2028, which fell to $0.19 from $0.36.

Spire Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE SR opened at $82.68 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.12 and a 200-day moving average of $85.75. The company has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.91 and a 1-year high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.62 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 21.48%.Spire’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.79%.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.