Spire (NYSE:SR) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $72.89 and last traded at $72.89, with a volume of 461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their target price on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.06.

Spire Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 70.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Spire by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,535,000 after purchasing an additional 44,969 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Spire by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,351,000 after acquiring an additional 72,119 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,231,000 after purchasing an additional 36,214 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,439,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

About Spire

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.