American Century Companies Inc. Trims Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,891,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,051 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Spire worth $263,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $76.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.30 and a 200-day moving average of $69.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.27 and a 1-year high of $78.83.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SR. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

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.