Deutsche Bank AG Makes New Investment in Spire Inc. $SR

Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 320,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,049,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SR. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Spire from $96.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Spire from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spire from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $80.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.83. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.91 and a twelve month high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.06. Spire had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $420.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $394.62 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.79%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $78.46 per share, for a total transaction of $39,230.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.26% 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.