Morgan Stanley Reiterates $80.00 Price Target for Spire (NYSE:SR)

Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on Spire (NYSE:SR) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Spire from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Spire Stock Up 0.6%

SR opened at $72.82 on Wednesday. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $58.27 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.63.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.10). Spire had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SR. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 21.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Spire by 5.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.