Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SR shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on Spire and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on Spire and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their price target on Spire from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Spire from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th.

Spire Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE SR opened at $87.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Spire has a twelve month low of $61.87 and a twelve month high of $87.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.07 and its 200 day moving average is $76.30.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. Spire had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 11.56%.The company had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 67.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Spire by 103.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Spire by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,925,000 after buying an additional 4,576 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Spire by 16.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the first quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Spire by 27.4% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

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.