Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Holdings Raised by Yaupon Capital Management LP

Yaupon Capital Management LP increased its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,190 shares during the quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned about 0.23% of Spire worth $8,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 1,318.4% during the third 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. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Spire by 26.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its position in Spire by 28.6% in the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SR opened at $70.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.57. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $73.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.54.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SR. StockNews.com lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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 dropped their target price 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, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.