Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Acquires New Shares in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SR. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,228,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Spire by 197.4% during 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 290.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,877,000 after buying an additional 97,358 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after acquiring an additional 72,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.94.

Spire Stock Down 0.6 %

SR stock opened at $67.70 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $73.64. 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 company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.86.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $3.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 18.55%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 72.85%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.