Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Spire Stock Performance

SR opened at $66.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.04. Spire has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $68.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.86 million. Spire had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.42) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Spire during the first quarter worth $47,000. 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.