Cynosure Group LLC Makes New $4.07 Million Investment in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Cynosure Group LLC bought a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 60,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,067,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SR. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,233,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth $787,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Spire by 197.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after buying an additional 107,662 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 116.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after buying an additional 15,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 12.4% in the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 288,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,511,000 after buying an additional 31,923 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on SR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.06.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock opened at $72.60 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.52. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.36 and a 52 week high of $73.52.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.30%. 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 (DPR) is 70.07%.

Spire 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.