Spire (SR) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Spire (NYSE:SR) will issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, November 20th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.45) per share for the quarter. Investors that are interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Spire Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $67.01 on Monday. Spire has a 12-month low of $56.36 and a 12-month high of $68.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.74%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.60%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 6.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.19.

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.