Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $1,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at $203,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 12.4% during the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 288,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,511,000 after purchasing an additional 31,923 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Spire by 197.2% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 21,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 75.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 6,283 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $65.67 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.10 and its 200 day moving average is $65.97. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.36 and a 1-year high of $73.64.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $3.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.13%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 72.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.