Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes $1.32 Million Position in Spire Inc. $SR

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 16,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,323,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC grew its stake in Spire by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Spire from $96.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Spire from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. BTIG Research set a $101.00 target price on Spire in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Spire in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $82.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.78. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.91 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.62 million. Spire had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 8.65%. Spire’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total value of $307,709.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. This trade represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. This represents a 6.67% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

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.