Kennedy Capital Management LLC Invests $373,000 in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,432,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Spire by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,381,000 after buying an additional 229,662 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,079,000 after purchasing an additional 138,971 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $8,277,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Spire by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,802,000 after purchasing an additional 106,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.70.

Spire Price Performance

SR traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.48. The company had a trading volume of 365,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,426. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $76.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.67. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $79.81. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Equities research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.