Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Buys Shares of 7,514 Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 5.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Spire by 2.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its stake in shares of Spire by 28.6% during the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 4.5% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In related news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. This represents a 6.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR opened at $67.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Spire Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $68.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.56.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued 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 18.74%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.19.

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.