Spire (NYSE:SR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $78.80 and last traded at $77.00, with a volume of 564375 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Spire Trading Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.21. 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 (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 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, research analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In related news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.