Spire (NYSE:SR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

Spire (NYSE:SR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

SR has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Spire Stock Performance

SR stock opened at $77.45 on Wednesday. Spire has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.47.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after purchasing an additional 36,214 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Spire by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Spire by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 2,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.