Spire (NYSE:SR) Earns Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $65.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SR. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a buy rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.25.

Spire Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $60.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.51. Spire has a 12-month low of $53.77 and a 12-month high of $70.60.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.88 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.40%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 64,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 9,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Spire by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 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.