Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Spire Inc. $SR

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 309,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 51,424 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.52% of Spire worth $25,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Spire by 186.8% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 1,957.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Spire by 1,031.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.00.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $90.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.67. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.94 and a fifty-two week high of $92.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.79.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.15. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The business had revenue of $762.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $785.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.74%.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.