Leeward Investments LLC MA Has $7.78 Million Stock Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Leeward Investments LLC MA lessened its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,712 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,575 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned about 0.20% of Spire worth $7,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $393,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $971,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 18,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Spire by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 37,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho raised Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This 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 insiders.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $75.93. 428,006 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,326. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.27 and a twelve month high of $76.79. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $70.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Spire's payout ratio is 76.03%.

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.