Quantinno Capital Management LP Acquires 23,149 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 104.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 45,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,149 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Spire were worth $4,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $72,990,000 after purchasing an additional 612,500 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $46,226,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Spire by 44.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 846,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,987,000 after purchasing an additional 260,344 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 647,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,560,000 after purchasing an additional 185,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter worth $15,213,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Spire in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.50.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were 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 owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Spire Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of SR opened at $82.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.94. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.91 and a 52 week high of $95.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.79%.

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.