Spire Inc. (SR) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 11th

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of 0.785 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th.

Spire has increased its dividend by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. Spire has a dividend payout ratio of 62.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Spire to earn $4.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.3%.

Spire Stock Performance

SR opened at $76.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.54 and a 200-day moving average of $68.44. Spire has a 52-week low of $57.27 and a 52-week high of $78.80. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SR. StockNews.com downgraded Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.