Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 23,097 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,211 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,097 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Spire worth $11,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,233,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,401,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 197.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,850,000 after acquiring an additional 107,662 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Spire by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $345,321,000 after acquiring an additional 65,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 116.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.19.

Spire Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of SR stock traded up $1.18 on Monday, reaching $68.19. The company had a trading volume of 540,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 415,214. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, 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 $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $68.35.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $3.14 dividend. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.42%. This is a boost from Spire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire's payout ratio is presently 72.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value 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 represents a 6.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

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.