Cibc World Markets Corp Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,317 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SR. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Spire by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 85,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,787,000 after buying an additional 10,659 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 268,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,216,000 after acquiring an additional 11,738 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $302,000. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Spire by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 113,550 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,702,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $1,030,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SR. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

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Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $77.45. The stock had a trading volume of 360,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 346,447. The stock's 50 day moving average is $74.07 and its 200 day moving average is $69.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.27 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders 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 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.03%.

Spire Profile

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.