Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $1.89 Million Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 116.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Spire were worth $1,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Spire by 197.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,850,000 after purchasing an additional 107,662 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 290.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,877,000 after buying an additional 97,358 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,488,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Spire by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,351,000 after buying an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 11.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,439,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $63.86. 395,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 417,957. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $65.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.23. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.69 and a fifty-two week high of $68.02.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company's revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.42) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $638,470. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.19.

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.