Spire (NYSE:SR) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Spire (NYSE:SR) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08), Zacks reports. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.52%. Spire updated its FY 2025 guidance to 4.400-4.600 EPS.

Spire Stock Performance

SR traded up $0.53 on Wednesday, hitting $71.58. The company had a trading volume of 101,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,281. Spire has a 1-year low of $56.99 and a 1-year high of $73.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.58.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 72.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.33% 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.