MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 4,919 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,919 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.11% of Spire worth $4,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,168,221 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $418,390,000 after purchasing an additional 46,434 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 worth $69,381,000 after buying an additional 229,662 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $68,028,000 after buying an additional 15,835 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,614,000 after acquiring an additional 28,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,802,000 after acquiring an additional 106,386 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on SR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.70.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock opened at $77.96 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.01. The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56.

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 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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