StockNews.com Upgrades Spire (NYSE:SR) to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on SR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.64.

Spire Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:SR opened at $79.07 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.92. Spire has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $79.81. The company has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, 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.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 431.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. 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.