American Century Companies Inc. Sells 18,051 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,891,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,051 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 6.67% of Spire worth $263,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the third quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Spire by 1,318.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR traded up $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $77.28. The stock had a trading volume of 359,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 346,719. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.70 and a 200-day moving average of $69.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $78.83.

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Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.00.

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.