Barclays PLC Grows Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 127.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,357 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.19% of Spire worth $7,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 64,491 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,917,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Spire by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Spire by 3.2% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 71,274 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,328,000 after buying an additional 2,229 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 several recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.28.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $65.55. 299,098 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 409,823. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.00. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $73.64.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is an increase from Spire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.16%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.85%.

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.