Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Takes $506,000 Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Spire by 197.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,850,000 after buying an additional 107,662 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 290.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,877,000 after acquiring an additional 97,358 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,351,000 after acquiring an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,439,000 after acquiring an additional 69,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Spire by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $345,321,000 after purchasing an additional 65,486 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 6.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

Spire Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of SR stock opened at $67.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.49 and a 200-day moving average of $63.56. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.36 and a 12-month high of $68.02.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $3.14 dividend. This is an increase from Spire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Spire from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.19.

Spire Company 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.