Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the March 15th total of 1,570,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 441,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 431.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SR traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $77.19. The company had a trading volume of 70,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,440. Spire has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The business's 50-day moving average is $76.34 and its 200-day moving average is $71.01. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Spire's payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Guggenheim upped their target price 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.70.

Spire Company 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.