Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 680,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,917 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.18% of Spire worth $46,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SR. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Spire during the third quarter worth approximately $39,228,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $8,277,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,802,000 after buying an additional 106,386 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after buying an additional 71,798 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 127.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,360,000 after acquiring an additional 61,357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $76.39 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $71.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $78.80.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

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

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.