Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Invests $558,000 in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Spire by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 837,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,185,000 after buying an additional 19,032 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 677,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,225,000 after acquiring an additional 28,474 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,541,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 374,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,364,000 after purchasing an additional 61,564 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Steven P. Rasche purchased 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at $393,195. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Spire Stock Down 0.5 %

SR stock opened at $65.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $68.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.58.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.42) earnings per share. Spire’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on SR shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

About Spire

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas.