Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 923 Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 923 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned 0.21% of Spire worth $8,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SR. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Spire by 2.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its position in shares of Spire by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Spire by 4.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Spire Price Performance

SR stock opened at $69.62 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $56.36 and a one year high of $73.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.51.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.04%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.50.

About Spire

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.