Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 123,584 Shares of Spire Inc. $SR

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,411,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,584 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.86% of Spire worth $522,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Spire by 0.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 353,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,856,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 9.2% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 12.7% in the third quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Spire by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 550,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,915,000 after purchasing an additional 27,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Spire by 186.8% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $90.84 on Thursday. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.94 and a 52-week high of $92.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.67.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The firm had revenue of $762.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $785.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.74%.

Spire News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Spire this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its FY2026 EPS view to $5.29 (from $5.25), a small but constructive lift to full‑year expectations that sits near Spire’s prior guidance range — supportive for valuation and dividend coverage.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks increased Q2 2026 EPS to $3.78 (from $3.69) and Q2 2027 EPS to $3.92 (from $3.66), suggesting stronger seasonal performance in spring/early summer quarters.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks nudged Q1 2027 EPS to $1.76 (from $1.72), a modest upgrade to near‑term profitability expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/opinion coverage: a Seeking Alpha piece highlights Spire as a potential portfolio “heat” candidate; opinion pieces can drive retail interest but are not hard data. Spire: Turn Up The Heat Of Your Portfolio’s Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional filing: Dimensional Fund Advisors submitted a Form 8.3 disclosure (public position/dealing) noted on Feb. 26; this appears to reference a different issuer name in the filing header and is likely administrative/portfolio disclosure rather than company‑specific news. Dimensional Fund Advisors Ltd. : Form 8.3
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks cut its Q3 2026 EPS estimate to $0.15 (from $0.20) and lowered Q3 2027 to $0.17 (from $0.26), trimming expectations for the company’s smaller seasonal quarter — negative for short‑term sentiment and guidance clarity.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks reduced its Q1 2028 estimate to $1.73 (from $1.82), a modest downward revision to a future quarter that may temper some forward expectations.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.70.

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.