16,775 Shares in Spire Inc. $SR Bought by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,387,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SR. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 212,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,623,000 after buying an additional 19,373 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter worth $9,636,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,031.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 75.8% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,766,000 after buying an additional 8,726 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.11.

Spire Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SR stock opened at $90.27 on Tuesday. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.94 and a 52-week high of $95.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $91.46 and a 200-day moving average of $87.58.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The company had revenue of $762.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $785.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.74%.

About Spire

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.