Cardinal Capital Management Raises Stock Holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management owned approximately 0.07% of Spire worth $2,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott started 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

Spire Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE SR opened at $73.95 on Tuesday. Spire Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $74.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $69.13 and its 200 day moving average is $67.32.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.03%.

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.