Spire (NYSE:SR) Upgraded to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on SR. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR opened at $82.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.37. Spire has a 52-week low of $73.91 and a 52-week high of $95.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.06. Spire had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 21.48%.The company had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $78.46 per share, with a total value of $39,230.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,680. This represents a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Spire

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the second quarter valued at about $202,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter worth about $667,642,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,049,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. bought a new position in Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at about $483,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Spire during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.