Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target to $70.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $64.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho downgraded Spire from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a neutral rating and a $57.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Spire Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE SR traded down $2.18 on Thursday, hitting $63.93. 513,191 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 437,013. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. Spire has a twelve month low of $53.77 and a twelve month high of $68.02.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. 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 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.42) EPS. Analysts predict that Spire will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid 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 4.72%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.26%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, EVP Steven P. Rasche acquired 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,195. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven P. Rasche purchased 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at $393,195. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Spire by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Spire by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 837,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,185,000 after purchasing an additional 19,032 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Spire by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,127,000 after purchasing an additional 80,405 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,439,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Spire by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 677,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,225,000 after purchasing an additional 28,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.