Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Fruth Investment Management

Fruth Investment Management decreased its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Spire were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the second quarter valued at $2,233,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at $2,401,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 197.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after buying an additional 107,662 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 374,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,364,000 after buying an additional 61,564 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $65.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.79. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.15 and a 1 year high of $68.02.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.42) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.94.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $638,470. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $638,470. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.