Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 12 brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $94.30.
• Recent analyst activity has been mixed: some firms upgraded or initiated coverage with positive targets, while others downgraded the stock or kept a neutral stance.
• Spire reported Q3 earnings of $3.76 per share, beating estimates, and it recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, implying a 4.1% yield.

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five 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 twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.30.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Spire from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho started coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, SVP Ryan L. Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $85.81 per share, for a total transaction of $171,620.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,670. This represents a 40.00% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $251,100. 2.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at $742,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Spire by 19.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Spire by 26.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Spire by 226.5% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 125,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,360,000 after acquiring an additional 87,036 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Spire by 231.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 10,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 7,415 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Spire this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple future earnings estimates for Spire, including FY2027, Q1 2027, Q3 2027, and Q4 2026, signaling improved longer-term profit expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: The revisions were mixed across different periods, with some later-quarter estimates increased while others were only slightly reduced.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered its Q3 2026 EPS forecast and trimmed a few other quarters, indicating near-term earnings may be softer than previously expected.

Spire Stock Performance

SR opened at $81.46 on Friday. Spire has a 12-month low of $71.24 and a 12-month high of $95.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.07.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.00%.

About Spire

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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