Spire Inc. $SR Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 8,790.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 52,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,128 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Spire were worth $4,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Spire by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,791,000 after purchasing an additional 19,326 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Spire by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,162,000 after acquiring an additional 61,851 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,672,000 after acquiring an additional 47,106 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Spire by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,240,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,581,000 after acquiring an additional 20,224 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Spire by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,123,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,890,000 after acquiring an additional 462,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Mizuho started coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.30.

Spire Stock Down 0.6%

Spire stock opened at $81.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.07. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.24 and a 1-year high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. The trade was a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were 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 owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $251,100 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Spire News

Here are the key news stories impacting Spire this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple future earnings estimates for Spire, including FY2027, Q1 2027, Q3 2027, and Q4 2026, signaling improved longer-term profit expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: The revisions were mixed across different periods, with some later-quarter estimates increased while others were only slightly reduced.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered its Q3 2026 EPS forecast and trimmed a few other quarters, indicating near-term earnings may be softer than previously expected.

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.