Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.76

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.755 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th.

Spire has increased its dividend by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Spire has a payout ratio of 65.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Spire to earn $4.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.2%.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $67.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Spire has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $68.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.12 and its 200 day moving average is $60.39.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Spire had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other news, EVP Steven P. Rasche acquired 4,500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at $393,195. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho lowered Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.83.

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.