Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 625,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,432,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SR. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Spire by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Spire by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $75.89 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.98. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.27 and a 12-month high of $79.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.64.

Spire Company 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.