Magellan Asset Management Ltd Purchases 9,883 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 21.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,883 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.09% of Spire worth $5,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Down 0.9%

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

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 the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.Spire’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid 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 presently 58.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SR. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut Spire from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Spire in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 2,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,670. This trade represents a 40.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

About Spire

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.