Spire (NYSE:SR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $79.11 and last traded at $77.82, with a volume of 76306 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.64.

Spire Stock Performance

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

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 Investors Weigh In On Spire

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