Congress Asset Management Co. MA Has $3.78 Million Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA reduced its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,486 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Spire were worth $3,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $24,541,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 627,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,121,000 after acquiring an additional 349,393 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Spire by 275.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,722,000 after acquiring an additional 229,771 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 788,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,624,000 after acquiring an additional 161,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in Spire by 153.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 184,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,509,000 after acquiring an additional 111,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, EVP Steven P. Rasche purchased 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,195. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $58.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.51. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $66.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.54.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by ($0.41). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.26%.

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.