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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday.

SR has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.06.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $72.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average is $65.87 and its 200 day moving average is $63.85. Spire has a 52 week low of $56.36 and a 52 week high of $72.71.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $3.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.31%. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Spire by 1,318.4% in the third 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 period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Spire in the first quarter worth $47,000. 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.