Stifel Nicolaus Raises Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target to $70.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $64.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised Spire from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho lowered Spire from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a neutral rating and a $57.50 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Spire Trading Down 3.3 %

SR stock traded down $2.18 on Thursday, reaching $63.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 513,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,013. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.63. Spire has a 12-month low of $53.77 and a 12-month high of $68.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.48.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.42) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,470. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Spire news, EVP Steven P. Rasche purchased 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.83 per share, with a total value of $107,235.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,195. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 3.8% in the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 64,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,999,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Spire by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 65,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,107,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Spire by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 21,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.