Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Spire (NYSE:SR)

Research analysts at Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a research report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “peer perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Spire in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.90.

Spire Stock Down 0.8%

SR stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $86.31. 96,602 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 379,761. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.50. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $71.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Spire will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,670. This trade represents a 40.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,791,000 after buying an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Spire by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,162,000 after acquiring an additional 61,851 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Spire by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,672,000 after acquiring an additional 47,106 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Spire by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,240,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,581,000 after purchasing an additional 20,224 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,123,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,890,000 after buying an additional 462,500 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.