William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 35,034 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 339,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 35,034 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Spire were worth $28,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Spire by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 212,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,623,000 after buying an additional 19,373 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at approximately $9,636,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Spire by 1,031.5% during 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 during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Spire by 75.8% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Spire by 1.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,766,000 after purchasing an additional 8,726 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $86.96 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.56. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $71.24 and a one year high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.Spire’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Spire in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,670. This represents a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.