Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 13,150 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 8.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 176,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,150 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $14,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Spire by 186.8% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Spire by 1,031.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE:SR opened at $91.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.94 and a 1-year high of $92.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.89 and a 200 day moving average of $84.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The business had revenue of $762.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $785.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.70.

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.