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

Key Points

• Spire Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from twelve research firms, with an average twelve-month price objective of approximately $81.36.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings reported $0.01 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 1.9% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Spire recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.785 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.7% with a payout ratio of 67.82%.

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.3636.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SR. Jefferies Financial Group raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price (down from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Spire from $81.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Spire and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 1,957.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Spire by 1,031.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Spire in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Stock Up 1.8%

Spire stock opened at $85.47 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $78.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.02. Spire has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $85.53. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.27 million. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Spire's payout ratio is presently 67.82%.

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.

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