Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Spire (NYSE:SR) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.93.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $73.19. 140,413 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,906. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.49 and its 200 day moving average is $64.23. Spire has a 52 week low of $56.36 and a 52 week high of $73.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,233,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the third quarter worth $787,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Spire by 197.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after purchasing an additional 107,662 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Spire by 116.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares during the period. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new stake in Spire during the third quarter worth about $4,067,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by 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.