Zacks Research Equities Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) – Zacks Research reduced their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Spire in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 17th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of ($0.34) per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of ($0.31). The consensus estimate for Spire’s current full-year earnings is $4.35 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Spire’s Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.61) EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.35 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.29) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.42) EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $1.41 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SR. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. 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 note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

Spire Trading Up 2.5 %

Spire stock opened at $60.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Spire has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $70.60. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.84.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.755 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. Spire’s payout ratio is 81.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was 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 owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the treasurer now directly 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 insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,130,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,127,000 after purchasing an additional 80,405 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 9.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 11.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 278,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,738,000 after purchasing an additional 29,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 5.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 648,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,713,000 after purchasing an additional 33,153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

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.