Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 431.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:SR opened at $72.42 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.10 and a 200 day moving average of $72.04. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.10). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.40.

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.