MQS Management LLC Invests $295,000 in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,022 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,957 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $401,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Spire by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 53,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,320,000 after acquiring an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,195. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.83.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.38. The company had a trading volume of 19,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,835. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $68.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.86 by ($0.41). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.70 earnings per share. Spire’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

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.