Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.27% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.06.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR opened at $72.55 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.52. Spire has a 1-year low of $56.36 and a 1-year high of $72.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter worth $2,401,000. American International Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 98,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 88,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,450,000 after purchasing an additional 5,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at about $1,479,000. 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.