Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Trims Stake in Spire Inc. $SR

Posted by Stanley Muller on May 22nd, 2026

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR – Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,307 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Spire were worth $7,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Spire during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 186.8% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the second quarter worth $38,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $86.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.52. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.56.

Spire (NYSE:SR – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.81 per share, for a total transaction of $171,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,670. The trade was a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.90.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on SR

About Spire

(Free Report)

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.