Spire (NYSE:SR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.41 EPS

Spire (NYSE:SR) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.86 by ($0.41), Briefing.com reports. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Spire updated its FY24 guidance to $4.25 to $4.45 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.250-4.450 EPS.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $61.31 on Friday. Spire has a one year low of $53.77 and a one year high of $69.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.22 and its 200-day moving average is $60.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.50.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a $0.755 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho downgraded Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.