Spire (NYSE:SR) SVP Ryan Hyman Sells 3,822 Shares

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) SVP Ryan Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SR traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $80.78. The stock had a trading volume of 257,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,779. The firm has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.18 and a 200-day moving average of $87.06.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SR shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price target on Spire in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 2.3% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Spire by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.