Spire (NYSE:SR) Sets New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) reached a new 52-week high of $83.95 during trading, reflecting a strong performance with a closing price of $83.76.
• Analysts have diverse views on Spire, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Underperform" and an average target price of $80.00 suggesting a Moderate Buy outlook.
• Spire recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.785, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of 67.82%.

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $83.95 and last traded at $83.76, with a volume of 7063 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.00.

Spire Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $77.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.81.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $421.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 67.82%.

Institutional Trading of Spire

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 103.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 2.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 177,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,925,000 after buying an additional 4,576 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 16.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the first quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Spire by 27.4% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,938 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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