Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Price

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SR. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Spire Stock Down 1.4 %

SR opened at $76.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. Spire has a one year low of $57.27 and a one year high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. Analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Spire by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Spire by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 112,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,587,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in Spire by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 24,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $790,000. 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.