Spire (NYSE:SR) Now Covered by UBS Group

UBS Group began coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $68.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock.

Separately, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Spire Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of SR traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.60. The company had a trading volume of 487,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,917. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.71. Spire has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $70.60. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Spire by 70,596.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 126.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,431,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $80,981,000 after purchasing an additional 742,231 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $149,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,252,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $163,065,000 after purchasing an additional 572,381 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.