Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Acquired by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 731,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,476 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Spire were worth $49,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SR. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.67.

Spire Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE SR opened at $76.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $57.27 and a one year high of $78.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.03.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

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.