Analysts Set Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Target Price at $71.50

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Mizuho raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company.

Spire Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:SR opened at $73.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire has a 52-week low of $56.99 and a 52-week high of $73.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.14.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.