Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 10,562 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 644,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,562 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 1.12% of Spire worth $39,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,321,000 after acquiring an additional 65,486 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Spire by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after acquiring an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,439,000 after acquiring an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,541,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Spire by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 374,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,364,000 after acquiring an additional 61,564 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Down 0.3 %

Spire stock opened at $66.56 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.77 and a 12-month high of $68.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.54 and its 200 day moving average is $62.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The company had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.42) EPS. Spire’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 76.26%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Spire news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SR shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.50.

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.