Chase Investment Counsel Corp Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. $SR

Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Spire by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 116,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,580,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 38,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in Spire by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Spire by 12.0% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SR. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Spire from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price target on Spire in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.30.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock opened at $80.43 on Wednesday. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.24 and a 1 year high of $95.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $81.37 and its 200 day moving average is $86.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. Spire’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.00%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $78.46 per share, for a total transaction of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at $627,680. This represents a 6.67% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $251,100 in the last three months. 2.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.