Spire Inc. $SR Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 5.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 152,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,755 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Spire were worth $13,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Spire from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. BTIG Research set a $101.00 price target on Spire in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

Spire Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE SR opened at $83.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.52. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.24 and a 12 month high of $95.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. Spire’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid 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 was Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 58.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.81 per share, for a total transaction of $171,620.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,670. The trade was a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100. Insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

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.