Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. Purchases New Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 431.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $78.32 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.41 and a 200-day moving average of $69.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $79.11.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Mizuho increased their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.00.

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.