Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.19.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,470. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 72,119 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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 last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 644,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,142,000 after purchasing an additional 10,562 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Spire by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 501,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $64.48 on Thursday. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $54.69 and a fifty-two week high of $68.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.86 million. Spire had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.42) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.