ClearAlpha Technologies LP Takes Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

ClearAlpha Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the second quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Spire by 1,318.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its position in shares of Spire by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.93.

Spire Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of SR stock opened at $72.40 on Tuesday. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.36 and a 1 year high of $73.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.57.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.35%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 70.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Spire

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.