Spire (NYSE:SR) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $68.51 and last traded at $68.51, with a volume of 675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.19.

Spire Stock Up 5.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.91.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.86 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. Spire’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.42) EPS. Analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Spire in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 26.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.