Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,060 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 24th, 2023

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 215,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,060 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.41% of Spire worth $14,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire by 31.8% in the first quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at about $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.86% of the company’s stock.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $68.03 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.05. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.52 and a twelve month high of $78.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.49.

Spire (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $3.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $887.98 million. Spire had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 9.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Investors of record on Monday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 9th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Spire’s payout ratio is 61.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SR. Mizuho reduced their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, May 12th. TheStreet raised shares of Spire from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

Spire Company Profile

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Spire Inc operates as a public utility holding company, which provides natural gas service through its utility operations while engaging in non-regulated activities. It operates through the Gas Utility and Gas Marketing Business segments. The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated operations of Laclede Gas Company and Alabama Gas Corporation.