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

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.8333.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SR shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $97.00 target price on Spire in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Spire during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 186.8% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Spire by 1,957.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Spire in the third quarter valued at $40,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

SR stock opened at $82.29 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $85.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.66. Spire has a 1 year low of $64.44 and a 1 year high of $91.11.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $334.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $439.56 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.54) earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.36%.

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.