SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 87.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,547 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Spire were worth $146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. State Street Corp grew its stake in Spire by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $214,535,000 after acquiring an additional 44,969 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Spire by 5.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,231,000 after acquiring an additional 36,214 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Spire by 0.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 646,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Spire during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,228,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SR traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 899,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,157. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $74.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $68.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.22.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.50.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.