Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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.

Spire Price Performance

SR opened at $75.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $78.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.61.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SR. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Spire by 5.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its position in shares of Spire by 28.6% in the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Spire by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 9,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 200 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.