New York State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 8,474 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 18.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,474 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Spire worth $4,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 1,957.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Spire by 1,031.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $83.56 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.48 and a twelve month high of $91.11. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.67.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $334.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $439.56 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.54) EPS. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SR shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Spire in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of America upgraded Spire from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.55.

About Spire

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.