SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 48,016 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 96.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 97,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,016 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $8,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 10.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 212,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,623,000 after purchasing an additional 19,373 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter worth $9,636,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Spire by 1,031.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Spire by 75.8% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Spire by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,766,000 after buying an additional 8,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. This represents a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of Spire stock opened at $80.79 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.49 and a 200 day moving average of $86.38. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.24 and a 52 week high of $95.31. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.10.

Spire Company 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.