Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Stock Position Lowered by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,354 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Spire were worth $3,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SR. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Spire by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Spire by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its stake in Spire by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Spire Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $77.37 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.27 and a 1-year high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.08.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 76.03%.

About Spire

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.