Spire (NYSE:SR) Now Covered by Janney Montgomery Scott

Research analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Janney Montgomery Scott’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.25% from the company’s current price.

SR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.28.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $64.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.00. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $73.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Insider Activity

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This trade represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Spire by 26.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its position in Spire by 28.6% in the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 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.