Spire (NYSE:SR) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Spire (NYSE:SR) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

SR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $76.83 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.36. Spire has a one year low of $57.27 and a one year high of $78.83.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Spire by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at $790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Spire by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,231,000 after acquiring an additional 36,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Spire by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. 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.