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

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.40.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SR. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Spire Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of SR traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $74.70. 385,455 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 394,895. The firm has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.54. Spire has a 12-month low of $57.77 and a 12-month high of $79.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 77.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,168,221 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $418,390,000 after acquiring an additional 46,434 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Spire by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,381,000 after buying an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $68,028,000 after buying an additional 15,835 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the first quarter worth about $73,254,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Spire in the first quarter worth about $69,889,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

About Spire

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.