Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SR shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,152,053 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $453,726,000 after buying an additional 396,807 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,968,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $394,254,000 after buying an additional 52,893 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,583,880 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $315,936,000 after buying an additional 36,022 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Spire by 70,596.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,264,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $293,646,000 after buying an additional 4,258,360 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,123,000 after buying an additional 1,951,969 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Down 0.1 %

SR traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.66. The stock had a trading volume of 487,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,789. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.51. Spire has a twelve month low of $53.77 and a twelve month high of $70.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.73.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The business had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.40%.

Spire Company Profile

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.