Spire (NYSE:SR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on SR. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a buy rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a neutral rating and a $57.50 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of Spire from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $61.72.

Spire Stock Down 0.2 %

SR opened at $61.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.28 and its 200 day moving average is $60.14. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $69.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by ($0.41). Spire had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,968,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $394,254,000 after buying an additional 52,893 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,936,000 after buying an additional 36,022 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,123,000 after buying an additional 1,951,969 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Spire by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 837,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,185,000 after buying an additional 19,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Spire by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 788,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,624,000 after buying an additional 161,171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.