Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Stock Position Trimmed by Smith Moore & CO.

Smith Moore & CO. trimmed its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 588 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Spire were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised 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 buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Spire by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 2,542 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Spire by 3.2% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 5,899 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Spire by 46.9% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR opened at $75.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $75.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.00. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SR shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.64.

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.