Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 50,058 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 674,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 50,058 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Spire were worth $45,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Spire Price Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $75.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.27 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.98.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SR. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.64.

Spire Company 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.