Spire (NYSE:SR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $57.50 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $61.72.

Spire Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SR opened at $61.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.01 and a 200 day moving average of $59.98. Spire has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $69.99.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $756.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.88 million. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $2,130,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,127,000 after purchasing an additional 80,405 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at $2,001,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Spire by 11.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 278,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,738,000 after acquiring an additional 29,666 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.