Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives $94.30 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $94.30.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other Spire news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total value of $307,709.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,670. This trade represents a 40.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,791,000 after purchasing an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Spire by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 594,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,144,000 after buying an additional 57,487 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,387,000. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at $3,796,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA raised its stake in Spire by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 118,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,767,000 after buying an additional 14,586 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of SR opened at $82.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $71.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.06.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.00%.

About Spire

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.