Zacks Research Issues Optimistic Estimate for Spire Earnings

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research upped their FY2025 earnings estimates for Spire in a report issued on Wednesday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $4.49 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $4.48. The consensus estimate for Spire's current full-year earnings is $4.50 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Spire's Q1 2027 earnings at $1.75 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.36 EPS.

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS.

SR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.40.

Spire Price Performance

Spire stock traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 385,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,895. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. Spire has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $79.81. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $75.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth about $1,030,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Spire by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Spire by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,802,000 after purchasing an additional 106,386 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,614,000 after purchasing an additional 28,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 173,374 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,760,000 after buying an additional 3,163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors 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 4.20%. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.34%.

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.