Spire Inc. $SR Stake Cut by UBS Group AG

UBS Group AG cut its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 384,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 113,454 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Spire were worth $31,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Optima Capital LLC bought a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Spire during the third quarter worth $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Spire by 186.8% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Spire during the third quarter worth $40,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

SR stock opened at $85.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.56. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.94 and a 1 year high of $95.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.62.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 71.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SR. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.44.

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.