Spire (NYSE:SR) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.93.

Spire Stock Up 0.1 %

SR stock opened at $73.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.26. Spire has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $73.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $3.14 dividend. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.16%. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.07%.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,535,000 after purchasing an additional 44,969 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Spire by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after buying an additional 71,798 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after buying an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 4.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after acquiring an additional 36,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire by 11.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,439,000 after acquiring an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by 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.