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

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $96.2222.

SR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE SR opened at $83.75 on Friday. Spire has a 1 year low of $71.24 and a 1 year high of $95.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55.

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

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,670. This trade represents a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

About Spire

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.