Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Buys 509 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 431.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $43,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $393,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $971,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Spire by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 18,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SR. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Spire Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $75.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.27 and a 12-month high of $76.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.77 and its 200 day moving average is $67.68.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.03%.

Spire 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.