Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.3636.

SR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Spire from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $84.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.67. Spire has a 1-year low of $68.48 and a 1-year high of $91.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.41.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by ($0.01). Spire had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.96%.The business had revenue of $334.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $439.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.54) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,411,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $522,628,000 after buying an additional 123,584 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Spire by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,162,000 after purchasing an additional 61,851 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,512,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,386,000 after buying an additional 22,296 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Spire by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,468,000 after buying an additional 85,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of Spire by 32.8% in the second quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,030,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,225,000 after purchasing an additional 254,285 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.