Spire (NYSE:SR) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Spire (NYSE:SR) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.42) earnings per share. Spire updated its FY24 guidance to $4.15-4.25 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.150-4.250 EPS.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $66.03. The company had a trading volume of 103,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 433,661. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. Spire has a 12-month low of $53.77 and a 12-month high of $68.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.39 and a 200-day moving average of $60.52.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.755 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho cut Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, EVP Steven P. Rasche acquired 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,195. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.