Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SR shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Spire from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, June 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $78.46 per share, for a total transaction of $39,230.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,680. The trade was a 6.67% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total value of $307,709.22. Following the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have bought 3,000 shares of company stock worth $251,100 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 158.1% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,990,000 after purchasing an additional 612,500 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,226,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Spire by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 846,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,987,000 after buying an additional 260,344 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 647,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,560,000 after buying an additional 185,796 shares during the period. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,213,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Stock Up 0.8%

Spire stock opened at $83.17 on Friday. Spire has a 1-year low of $71.24 and a 1-year high of $95.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 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.