Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Treasurer Sells $77,590.50 in Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Spire Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $68.31 on Wednesday. Spire Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.36 and a 12-month high of $73.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.39 and its 200-day moving average is $65.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $3.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.39%. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at $994,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at about $575,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Spire by 127.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,360,000 after acquiring an additional 61,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 17.0% during the third quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 132,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,887,000 after acquiring an additional 19,190 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.28.

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.