Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.19.

SR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Spire Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $65.09 on Thursday. Spire has a 52-week low of $56.36 and a 52-week high of $68.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.38.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Spire by 197.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after buying an additional 107,662 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 290.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,877,000 after purchasing an additional 97,358 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Spire during the first quarter worth $4,488,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Spire by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Company Profile

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.