Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $2.76 Million Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.08% of Spire worth $2,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 126.0% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,969 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Spire by 125.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 627,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,121,000 after buying an additional 349,393 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 275.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,722,000 after buying an additional 229,771 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth $11,898,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 25.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 788,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,624,000 after acquiring an additional 161,171 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.80. 10,244 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 487,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $69.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by ($0.41). Spire had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be issued a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho cut Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.72.

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.