Spire (NYSE:SR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

SR has been the subject of several other reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.50.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of Spire stock opened at $68.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. Spire has a 1 year low of $56.36 and a 1 year high of $73.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.60. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.57.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Spire by 1.4% during the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Spire by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after acquiring an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after acquiring an additional 36,214 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 11.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,439,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spire Company Profile

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.