Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 644,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 36,283 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $50,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SR. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,198,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Spire by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $1,030,000. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Spire by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 113,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,702,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth $361,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $75.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.62. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $79.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Spire had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Spire’s payout ratio is 77.34%.

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.