Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,497 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,442 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.14% of Spire worth $5,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in Spire by 10.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,360,000 after buying an additional 61,357 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the third quarter worth about $575,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Spire during the third quarter worth approximately $994,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SR traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.48. 365,261 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,426. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $76.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.77 and a 12-month high of $79.81. The firm 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Spire's payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.70.

Spire 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.