Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 11,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $787,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SR. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Spire by 6,551.6% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.19.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $67.01 on Monday. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $68.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.60%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $473,899.02. The trade was a 6.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Spire 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.