Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.76

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.755 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, July 2nd. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th.

Spire has raised its dividend by an average of 5.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Spire has a payout ratio of 65.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Spire to earn $4.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.2%.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.40. 361,004 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 320,353. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.01 and its 200-day moving average is $59.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. Spire has a 1 year low of $53.77 and a 1 year high of $69.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.88 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports 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 research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Spire

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.