Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. Spire comprises approximately 2.1% of Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC owned 0.24% of Spire worth $9,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,233,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at $2,401,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Spire by 197.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after purchasing an additional 107,662 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Spire by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 374,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,364,000 after purchasing an additional 61,564 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

SR stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.45. 34,085 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,138. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.82. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.15 and a 52 week high of $68.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.42) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Spire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.