Man Group plc Invests $5.31 Million in Spire Inc. $SR

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 68,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,313,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Spire by 10.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 212,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,623,000 after purchasing an additional 19,373 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at about $9,636,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 1,031.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Spire by 75.8% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,766,000 after buying an additional 8,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

SR stock opened at $82.68 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.76. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.91 and a 12-month high of $95.31. The stock has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $420.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.62 million. Spire had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Spire from $96.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $78.46 per share, for a total transaction of $39,230.00. Following the acquisition, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Spire 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.