Mizuho Boosts Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target to $82.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Mizuho from $76.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Mizuho’s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.31% from the company’s previous close.

SR has been the topic of a number of other reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.67.

Spire Price Performance

SR opened at $76.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $78.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.97. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Spire by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Spire by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 9,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Spire by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Spire by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Spire by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.