Jane Street Group LLC Cuts Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Jane Street Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 62.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 36,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 60,296 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $2,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Spire during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its position in Spire by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 38.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Spire Stock Performance

SR stock opened at $66.69 on Monday. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.36 and a 1 year high of $73.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.10.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.83%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 72.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.50.

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.