Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 46,216 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 695,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,216 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 1.18% of Spire worth $56,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Spire by 2.6% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 2.9% during the third quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 30,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Spire by 6.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 20,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter worth about $208,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Spire in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.36.

Spire Trading Down 0.3%

SR stock opened at $84.58 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.58. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.48 and a fifty-two week high of $91.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.32.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by ($0.01). Spire had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $334.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $439.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.54) EPS. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Spire Profile

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.