OLD Republic International Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

OLD Republic International Corp reduced its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 429,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 94,000 shares during the quarter. OLD Republic International Corp’s holdings in Spire were worth $29,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning increased its stake in Spire by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 38.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 116.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 15,060 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 17.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Spire by 7.2% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

Spire Price Performance

SR opened at $75.11 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.60. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.27 and a twelve month high of $75.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.