Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Stock Holdings Lowered by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,381 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Spire were worth $2,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 10.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Spire by 18.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 2,542 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 3.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 187,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,624,000 after buying an additional 5,899 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 46.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 13.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 3,160 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SR. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.64.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $78.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.73 and its 200-day moving average is $69.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $79.22.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its 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%. Equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.