Spire (NYSE:SR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $76.42 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $78.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its earnings results 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 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,432,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,228,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Spire by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,381,000 after acquiring an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.