Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Rating Lowered by LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $60.50 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $65.50.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.19.

Spire Stock Up 2.3 %

SR opened at $65.25 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.54 and its 200-day moving average is $62.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48. Spire has a one year low of $54.15 and a one year high of $68.02.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $414.10 million for 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 for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.42) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Spire will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

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

Institutional Trading of Spire

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Spire by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Spire by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 5,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its holdings in Spire by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Spire by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in 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.