Spire Inc. $SR Shares Sold by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 851,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 102,900 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Spire were worth $77,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SR. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,348,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Spire by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.22.

Insider Activity

In other Spire news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,670. This represents a 40.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $76.94 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a PEG ratio of 1.72 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.56. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.24 and a 52-week high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 58.00%.

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.