24,100 Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Purchased by Natixis

Natixis bought a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 24,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,479,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SR. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Spire by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Spire by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SR. UBS Group began coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 target price for the company. Mizuho cut Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.83.

Spire Trading Up 0.7 %

SR traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $67.13. 449,990 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 432,349. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.31. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.77 and a 52-week high of $68.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.51.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by ($0.41). Spire had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.70 EPS. Spire’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,195. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

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.