Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.76

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of 0.755 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th.

Spire has increased its dividend by an average of 5.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Spire has a dividend payout ratio of 65.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Spire to earn $4.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.2%.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.40. 361,004 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 320,353. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $69.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.98.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.88 million. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. Spire’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Spire will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.86% 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.