Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Acquired by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.05% of Spire worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Spire by 90.8% in the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 15,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 7,386 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Spire by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 64,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,348,000 after acquiring an additional 3,758 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Spire by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 207,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Spire by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Spire Price Performance

Spire stock opened at $75.11 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.58. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $75.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

About Spire

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas.