Spire (NYSE:SR) SVP Ryan Hyman Sells 3,822 Shares

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) SVP Ryan Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total value of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,150,890.45. This trade represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $80.53 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.24 and a 12 month high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 58.00%.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 158.1% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,990,000 after purchasing an additional 612,500 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $46,226,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 846,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,987,000 after purchasing an additional 260,344 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 647,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,560,000 after acquiring an additional 185,796 shares during the period. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Spire in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.22.

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.