Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 114,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,575 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Spire were worth $7,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 2.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 28.6% in the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 4.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $75.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.60. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $75.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SR shares. 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire 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 sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

About Spire

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.