4,445 Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Bought by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,228,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter worth about $8,277,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Spire by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,802,000 after buying an additional 106,386 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,244,000 after buying an additional 71,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,360,000 after buying an additional 61,357 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SR shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.00.

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Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 852,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,837. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The firm's 50 day moving average is $73.08 and its 200-day moving average is $69.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

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

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.