Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,917 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 680,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,917 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.18% of Spire worth $46,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Spire by 7.2% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Spire during the third quarter valued at approximately $787,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Spire by 12.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,617 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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Spire Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SR traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $76.39. 599,570 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 395,106. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.44. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $78.80.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.03%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.33% of the stock is owned by 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.