Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Cuts Stock Position in Spire Inc. $SR

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lessened its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 954,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,630 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Spire were worth $78,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,411,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $522,628,000 after purchasing an additional 123,584 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Spire by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,162,000 after buying an additional 61,851 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,468,000 after acquiring an additional 85,004 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Spire by 1.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,021,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,303,000 after acquiring an additional 14,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Spire by 158.1% in the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,990,000 after acquiring an additional 612,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SR. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.70.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $91.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.64. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.94 and a 52-week high of $94.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.64.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.15. Spire had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 10.95%.The company had revenue of $762.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $785.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Spire’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.74%.

Spire Profile

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.