Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives $61.83 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.83.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Spire Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $67.77 on Tuesday. Spire has a 1 year low of $53.77 and a 1 year high of $68.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.38.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.86 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Spire had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.70 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Spire will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, EVP Steven P. Rasche acquired 4,500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at $393,195. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $2,001,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $2,130,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in Spire by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,127,000 after purchasing an additional 80,405 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter worth about $2,401,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Spire by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 374,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,364,000 after purchasing an additional 61,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

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.