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

StockNews.com cut shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.00.

Spire Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $77.28 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.41.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 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.