Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 47,106 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $130,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,923,000 after buying an additional 38,875 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,414,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 374,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,493,000 after buying an additional 88,154 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 550,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,915,000 after buying an additional 27,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,791,000 after buying an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.22.

Spire Stock Down 0.0%

Spire stock opened at $81.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.24 and a 52-week high of $95.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $80.50 per share, for a total transaction of $40,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 7,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $603,750. The trade was a 7.14% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Spire

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.