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

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.70.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SR shares. Mizuho raised their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $77.05. The company had a trading volume of 563,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,556. The company has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.56. Spire has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $79.81. The business's 50-day moving average is $76.51 and its 200 day moving average is $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. Equities research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 431.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by 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.