Spire Inc. $SR Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,008 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Spire were worth $25,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Spire by 158.1% in the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,990,000 after acquiring an additional 612,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Spire by 44.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 846,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,987,000 after acquiring an additional 260,344 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Spire by 53.0% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 497,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,569,000 after acquiring an additional 172,493 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,411,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $522,628,000 after acquiring an additional 123,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the first quarter valued at $9,636,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Spire in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, 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, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.22.

Key Spire News

Here are the key news stories impacting Spire this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several longer-term earnings forecasts for Spire, including FY2028 EPS to $6.03 from $5.92 and Q2 2027 EPS to $4.29 from $3.92, suggesting improved profit expectations over time. Spire analyst estimate updates
• Positive Sentiment: Another report said Spire is benefiting from expanding regulated operations, including adding about 200,000 Tennessee customers and focusing more on core utility assets, which could support steadier earnings. Zacks article on regulated growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts at American Banking News said Spire has a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” which reinforces a generally favorable Street view but does not by itself change near-term fundamentals. Consensus recommendation article
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks also cut multiple near- and medium-term EPS estimates, including Q4 2026, Q3 2027, Q1 2027, FY2027, Q2 2028 and Q3 2027, signaling some softness in earnings expectations around the next few years. Spire analyst estimate reductions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary also pointed to “unusual guidance” and a sell-off, indicating investors were disappointed by the outlook even though Spire recently beat EPS on its latest earnings release. Seeking Alpha sell-off article

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.81 per share, for a total transaction of $171,620.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,670. This represents a 40.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Spire Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:SR opened at $82.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $71.24 and a one year high of $95.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.00%.

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.