Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Stock Holdings Cut by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,048 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. owned 0.16% of Spire worth $6,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Spire by 1,318.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued 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, Spire currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.64.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.70. 46,314 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 418,518. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's fifty day moving average is $74.54 and its 200 day moving average is $69.79. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $79.22. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. Spire's payout ratio is 76.03%.

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.