Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 54,323 Shares of Spark Energy, Inc. (SPKE)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spark Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPKE) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 558,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,323 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.60% of Spark Energy worth $17,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in shares of Spark Energy during the first quarter valued at $109,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Spark Energy by 49.4% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Spark Energy during the first quarter valued at $210,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Spark Energy by 1,652.5% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 6,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Spark Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.77% of the company’s stock.

Spark Energy, Inc. (SPKE) traded down 1.54% during trading on Friday, hitting $17.20. The stock had a trading volume of 37,846 shares. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.09 million, a P/E ratio of 23.69 and a beta of -1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.29 and a 200-day moving average of $17.80. Spark Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.52 and a 52 week high of $23.65.

Spark Energy (NASDAQ:SPKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.15. Spark Energy had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 1.68%. The firm had revenue of $151.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.72 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Spark Energy, Inc. will post $0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 29th will be given a $0.1813 dividend. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 25th. Spark Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.35%.

Spark Energy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to repurchase up to 19.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

SPKE has been the subject of several analyst reports. FBR & Co lifted their price objective on Spark Energy from $18.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Guggenheim raised Spark Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Spark Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $22.95 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Wunderlich lifted their price objective on Spark Energy from $22.00 to $27.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised Spark Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Spark Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.08.

In other news, VP Gil Melman sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $51,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director W Keith Maxwell III sold 56,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total transaction of $1,197,372.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 689,380 shares in the company, valued at $14,635,537.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 7,425 shares of company stock worth $252,568 and sold 154,342 shares worth $3,259,362. Corporate insiders own 66.89% of the company’s stock.

Spark Energy Company Profile

Spark Energy, Inc is an independent retail energy services company. The Company provides residential and commercial customers across the United States with an alternative choice for their natural gas and electricity. The Company operates through two segments: Retail Natural Gas Segment and Retail Electricity Segment.

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