Spire (NYSE:SR) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SR. Stifel Nicolaus cut Spire from a buy rating to a hold rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Spire from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Spire from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 5th. Bank of America lowered Spire from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Spire from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $70.25.

Spire Price Performance

SR opened at $70.01 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.35 and a 200 day moving average of $69.40. Spire has a 52-week low of $61.52 and a 52-week high of $79.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.47.

Spire (NYSE:SR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.49. Spire had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $814.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $561.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.9% in the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 16,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 31.8% in the first quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 15,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 47.1% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. 99.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Company Profile

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Spire Inc operates as a public utility holding company, which provides natural gas service through its utility operations while engaging in non-regulated activities. It operates through the Gas Utility and Gas Marketing Business segments. The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated operations of Laclede Gas Company and Alabama Gas Corporation.