Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Treasurer Sells $77,590.50 in Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) 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 transaction of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $67.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 68,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $73.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.90.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $3.14 dividend. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.58%. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 72.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SR. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered 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 research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.94.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 26.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 28.6% in the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% 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.