ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 85,282 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 465,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 85,282 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $38,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 186.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $87.02 on Wednesday. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.24 and a 52-week high of $95.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 2,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $85.81 per share, for a total transaction of $171,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,670. The trade was a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.50.

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.