Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Spire Inc. $SR

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,411,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,584 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Spire worth $522,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the third quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.8% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 17,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Intrua Financial LLC increased its position in Spire by 4.6% during the third quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 2.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Spire by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 25,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America upgraded Spire from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.70.

Spire News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Spire this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its FY2026 EPS view to $5.29 (from $5.25), a small but constructive lift to full‑year expectations that sits near Spire’s prior guidance range — supportive for valuation and dividend coverage.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks increased Q2 2026 EPS to $3.78 (from $3.69) and Q2 2027 EPS to $3.92 (from $3.66), suggesting stronger seasonal performance in spring/early summer quarters.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks nudged Q1 2027 EPS to $1.76 (from $1.72), a modest upgrade to near‑term profitability expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/opinion coverage: a Seeking Alpha piece highlights Spire as a potential portfolio “heat” candidate; opinion pieces can drive retail interest but are not hard data. Spire: Turn Up The Heat Of Your Portfolio’s Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional filing: Dimensional Fund Advisors submitted a Form 8.3 disclosure (public position/dealing) noted on Feb. 26; this appears to reference a different issuer name in the filing header and is likely administrative/portfolio disclosure rather than company‑specific news. Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. : Form 8.3
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks cut its Q3 2026 EPS estimate to $0.15 (from $0.20) and lowered Q3 2027 to $0.17 (from $0.26), trimming expectations for the company’s smaller seasonal quarter — negative for short‑term sentiment and guidance clarity.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks reduced its Q1 2028 estimate to $1.73 (from $1.82), a modest downward revision to a future quarter that may temper some forward expectations.

Spire Price Performance

SR stock opened at $90.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.67. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.94 and a 12 month high of $92.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.74%.

About Spire

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.