Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.19.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $64.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Spire has a 1 year low of $54.69 and a 1 year high of $68.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.73 and a 200-day moving average of $63.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.42) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Spire

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

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Spire in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.