Huntington Begins Coverage on Spire (NYSE:SR)

Key Points

• Huntington initiated coverage of Spire with an “outperform” rating and a $93 price target, implying approximately 15.9% upside from the stock’s previous close.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: Spire has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $93.91, supported by Strong Buy and Buy recommendations from several analysts.
• Spire recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting revenue of $420.2 million and an adjusted EPS loss of $0.26, while revenue increased 19.2% year over year. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company.

Equities researchers at Huntington began coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $93.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Huntington's target price points to a potential upside of 15.90% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $85.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Spire from $96.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Spire from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.91.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $80.24. 7,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 454,803. The business's 50 day moving average is $81.81 and its 200-day moving average is $85.22. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Spire has a 1-year low of $74.81 and a 1-year high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.06. Spire had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 21.48%.The company had revenue of $420.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.01 EPS. Spire's revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Spire by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 212,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,623,000 after purchasing an additional 19,373 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at $9,636,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 1,031.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 75.8% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,919 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,766,000 after buying an additional 8,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc is an energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its regulated utility operations, the company distributes natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in Missouri and Alabama, serving communities through local natural gas infrastructure and related customer services.

Spire also operates businesses involved in natural gas marketing, storage and pipeline transportation. These operations support the company's utility activities and provide natural gas supply, logistics and infrastructure services to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and other market participants.

The company traces its history to 1857, when it was established as Laclede Gas Company.

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