Spire (NYSE:SR) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $91.50 and last traded at $91.5810, with a volume of 68443 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $90.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on SR shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Spire from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.36.

Spire Trading Up 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.12.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $762.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.54 million. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 71.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,791,000 after acquiring an additional 19,326 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,162,000 after purchasing an additional 61,851 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Spire by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,672,000 after buying an additional 47,106 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Spire by 7.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,468,000 after buying an additional 85,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,116,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,301,000 after acquiring an additional 114,683 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Company Profile

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.