Spire (NYSE:SR) Director Acquires $39,230.00 in Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Director Paul Koonce acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Spire Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE SR traded up $1.34 on Friday, hitting $79.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 79,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,121. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.24 and a 52-week high of $95.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.52.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SR shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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 lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen started coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Spire in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.22.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Spire by 158.1% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 612,500 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth $46,226,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 846,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,987,000 after buying an additional 260,344 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 647,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,560,000 after buying an additional 185,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth $15,213,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Company 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.