Guggenheim Issues Positive Forecast for Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Price

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its target price raised by Guggenheim from $67.00 to $72.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.64.

Spire Price Performance

SR opened at $78.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $79.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.79.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 76.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Spire by 431.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in 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.