Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives $70.28 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.50.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $67.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. Spire has a 52-week low of $56.36 and a 52-week high of $73.64.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,228,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Spire by 290.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,877,000 after acquiring an additional 97,358 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 698,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,439,000 after buying an additional 69,020 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.