Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Price

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $75.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.06.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $72.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $65.74 and its 200-day moving average is $63.76. Spire has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $72.71. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.31%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. 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.