William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $20.87 Million Holdings in Spire Inc. $SR

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 285,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,247 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $20,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $73,254,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,322,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Spire by 4,909.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 280,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,439,000 after acquiring an additional 274,435 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Spire by 110.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 522,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,872,000 after acquiring an additional 274,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,354,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 0.7%

SR opened at $85.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.69. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.87 and a twelve month high of $86.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.07.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.27 million. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were paid a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 67.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on shares of Spire and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.36.

Spire Company 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.