Brandes Investment Partners LP Buys 10,659 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 85,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,659 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Spire were worth $5,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:SR opened at $76.13 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $57.27 and a one year high of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.80.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

About Spire

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.