Paul D. Koonce Buys 1,000 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Spire Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:SR traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $72.40. 334,232 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 413,562. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $73.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $3.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.35%. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SR. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,233,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the third quarter worth $787,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 197.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after buying an additional 107,662 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the third quarter valued at about $4,067,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 116.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas.