Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 11,594 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 687,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,594 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.19% of Spire worth $46,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 65,486 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Spire by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,351,000 after buying an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Spire by 1.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 644,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,142,000 after buying an additional 10,562 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Spire by 0.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 501,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,477,000 after buying an additional 2,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in Spire by 12.4% during the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 288,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,511,000 after buying an additional 31,923 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.19.

Spire Stock Up 1.7 %

Spire stock opened at $67.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $56.36 and a one year high of $68.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.46 and a 200 day moving average of $63.53.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 72.60%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The trade was a 6.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Spire 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.