Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases New Position in Spire Inc. $SR

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 18,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 900.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Spire by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,680. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100 over the last quarter. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Spire Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $78.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.24 and a 12-month high of $95.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.35.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on Spire in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price target on Spire in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.10.

Spire 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.