Spire (NYSE:SR) Upgraded by LADENBURG THALM/SH SH to Buy Rating

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a sell rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $83.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

SR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Spire Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of SR stock opened at $76.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. Spire has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $76.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,168,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $418,390,000 after acquiring an additional 46,434 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Spire by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $214,535,000 after purchasing an additional 44,969 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Spire by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Spire by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,381,000 after buying an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Spire by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,028,000 after buying an additional 15,835 shares in the last quarter. 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.