Spire Inc. $SR Shares Bought by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 60,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $4,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 212,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,623,000 after acquiring an additional 19,373 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter worth about $9,636,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 1,031.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 75.8% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Spire by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,766,000 after buying an additional 8,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. BTIG Research set a $101.00 price target on shares of Spire in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Spire from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Spire from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,680. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ryan L. 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $82.68 on Monday. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.91 and a 52 week high of $95.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.12 and a 200-day moving average of $85.76.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.06. Spire had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 21.48%.The firm had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $394.62 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.79%.

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.