Spire Inc. $SR Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 21.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 219,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,875 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $17,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 131.0% in the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 37,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,049,000 after acquiring an additional 21,211 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Spire by 404.1% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,064,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,092,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 19.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Spire stock opened at $86.12 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.89. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.94 and a fifty-two week high of $91.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $762.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.54 million. Spire had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 10.95%.Spire’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho increased their price target on Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.36.

Spire Profile

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.