Spire (NYSE:SR) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $79.11 and last traded at $77.82, with a volume of 76306 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.64.

Spire Stock Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.79.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. Analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,432,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter worth $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Spire by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,381,000 after purchasing an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at $12,567,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Spire by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 722,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,026,000 after buying an additional 139,815 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

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.