Spire (NYSE:SR) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on SR. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.44.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $85.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.62. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.56. Spire has a 12-month low of $69.94 and a 12-month high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Spire will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the third quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.3% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 4.6% in the third quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.