Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for Spire (NYSE:SR)

Spire (NYSE:SR)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $65.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.68% from the company’s previous close.

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

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $58.20 on Tuesday. Spire has a 12 month low of $53.77 and a 12 month high of $70.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 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 net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Spire by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Spire by 817.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 31.8% during the first quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Spire during the third quarter worth $65,000. 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.