The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. $SR

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 479,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,427,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the first quarter valued at $3,631,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Spire by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,791,000 after buying an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. South Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $15,213,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $1,387,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $1,490,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SR. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Spire from $96.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,680. This represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of Spire stock in a transaction 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 owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Spire Stock Up 0.6%

SR opened at $83.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.80. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.91 and a 12 month high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.06. Spire had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.79%.

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.