Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 9,119 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Legato Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 36.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,119 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $1,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SR. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Spire by 9.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in Spire in the second quarter valued at approximately $587,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Spire by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Spire by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 36,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 3,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 28,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,947,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Up 0.1 %

Spire stock opened at $73.00 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.58. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.99 and a twelve month high of $73.64.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. As a group, analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. 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 on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho upgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.50.

Spire 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.