Spire (NYSE:SR) Given New $66.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $66.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on SR. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a buy rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a neutral rating and a $57.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lowered Spire from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.72.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of Spire stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $61.31. 441,248 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 494,315. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.10. Spire has a twelve month low of $53.77 and a twelve month high of $69.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Spire had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given 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 4.93%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $2,130,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,001,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Spire by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,127,000 after purchasing an additional 80,405 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Spire by 9.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 278,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,738,000 after buying an additional 29,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.