Legal & General Group Plc Purchases Shares of 280,987 Spire Inc. $SR

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 280,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,942,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.48% of Spire as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Spire during the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 149 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Spire News

Here are the key news stories impacting Spire this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its Q4 2026 EPS forecast to a loss of $1.00 from a loss of $1.06, while increasing its Q1 2027 estimate to $1.84 from $1.65.
• Positive Sentiment: The research firm lifted its Q2 2028 EPS estimate to $4.27 from $3.89 and its FY2028 forecast to $6.07 from $6.05, suggesting somewhat stronger longer-term earnings potential.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks maintained its $4.01 consensus estimate for Spire’s current fiscal year. The company’s latest quarterly results also exceeded expectations, with revenue up 19.2% year over year and EPS beating the consensus loss estimate.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks reduced its Q3 2027 EPS forecast to $0.10 from $0.13 and its Q4 2027 forecast to a loss of $0.53 from a loss of $0.43.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm lowered its FY2027 EPS forecast to $5.47 from $5.52, and cut its Q1 2028 estimate to $2.06 from $2.15. The largest reduction was to Q3 2028, which fell to $0.19 from $0.36.

Spire Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $82.68 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.91 and a 12-month high of $95.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.62 million. Spire had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 8.65%. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,680. The trade was a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research set a $101.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised 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 Spire from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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 report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

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.