ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Reduces Stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,612 shares during the quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s holdings in Spire were worth $5,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Spire by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. 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 on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.64.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $75.89 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.00. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

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.