Energy Income Partners LLC Purchases 6,505 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 1.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 402,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,505 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $36,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SR. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC raised its stake in Spire by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Spire by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Spire stock opened at $82.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.24 and a 12-month high of $95.31. The company has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.07.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 2,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.81 per share, for a total transaction of $171,620.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,670. This represents a 40.00% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100 over the last three months. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research set a $101.00 price objective on Spire in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Two 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.50.

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.