Zacks Research Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) – Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Spire in a report issued on Wednesday, April 17th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of ($0.34) for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of ($0.31). The consensus estimate for Spire’s current full-year earnings is $4.35 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Spire’s Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.61) EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.35 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.29) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.42) EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $1.41 EPS.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis.

SR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Spire Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of SR stock opened at $59.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $70.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.77.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 81.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $2,130,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Spire by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,127,000 after purchasing an additional 80,405 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Spire by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Spire by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 278,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,738,000 after purchasing an additional 29,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Spire by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 648,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,153 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is 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.