3,002 Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Acquired by C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $74.01 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.48. The company has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $74.81.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.