Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Spire Inc. received an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 11 covering analysts, with an average 12-month price target of about $96.22.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $3.76 per share, topping estimates, though revenue of $1.02 billion came in below expectations. Management also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, equal to a 4.3% yield.
• Recent insider and institutional activity was mixed: a director bought shares while an SVP sold shares, and hedge funds remain heavily invested, with 87.36% of the stock held by institutional investors.

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $96.2222.

Several research firms have issued reports on SR. Wolfe Research began coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 2,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $600,670. This trade represents a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total value of $307,709.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,150,890.45. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $251,100. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Spire by 158.1% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,990,000 after purchasing an additional 612,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $46,226,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 44.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 846,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $68,987,000 after buying an additional 260,344 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 647,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,560,000 after buying an additional 185,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,213,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $75.96 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.50. Spire has a 1-year low of $71.24 and a 1-year high of $95.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. Spire's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.00%.

Spire Company Profile

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.

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