MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Spire worth $4,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Spire by 7.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 12.1% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 58,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,284 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 6.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Spire by 18.5% in the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Spire during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,233,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $72.40 on Tuesday. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.36 and a 1-year high of $73.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.60 and its 200 day moving average is $64.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.85%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SR shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.93.

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.