Spire (NYSE:SR) Raised to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Spire (NYSE:SR) was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $85.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $72.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR opened at $76.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Spire has a 1-year low of $57.27 and a 1-year high of $78.83.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $42,432,000. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $39,228,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Spire by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,381,000 after purchasing an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $12,567,000. 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.