CWA Asset Management Group LLC Has $441,000 Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Spire by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $214,535,000 after buying an additional 44,969 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 8.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after purchasing an additional 36,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Spire by 0.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 646,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SR. StockNews.com downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.50.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $67.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $56.36 and a one year high of $73.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.57.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.67%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 72.85%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased 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 owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.