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

Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $73.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have 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, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.28.

Spire Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE SR opened at $68.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.95. Spire has a 52-week low of $56.36 and a 52-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.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $3.14 per share. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.39%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. State Street Corp boosted its position in Spire by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $214,535,000 after purchasing an additional 44,969 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after buying an additional 71,798 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Spire by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,351,000 after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,231,000 after purchasing an additional 36,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 11.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,439,000 after purchasing an additional 69,020 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.