Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at $39,228,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Spire by 290.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,877,000 after purchasing an additional 97,358 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,351,000 after acquiring an additional 72,119 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 11.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,439,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $67.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.52 and its 200 day moving average is $65.19. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $73.64.

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. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.72%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on SR. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.