Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook of Spire FY2027 Earnings

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) – Analysts at Zacks Research raised their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for Spire in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 28th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will earn $5.14 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $5.10. The consensus estimate for Spire’s current full-year earnings is $4.51 per share.

SR has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 19th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.50.

Spire Price Performance

SR stock opened at $69.43 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.74. Spire has a 12-month low of $56.36 and a 12-month high of $73.64. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $3.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.09%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.85%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Spire by 1,318.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.