StockNews.com Downgrades Spire (NYSE:SR) to Sell

Spire (NYSE:SR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho increased 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, November 19th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.93.

Spire Stock Up 0.1 %

SR traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.19. 140,413 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 413,906. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. Spire has a one year low of $56.36 and a one year high of $73.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.23.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.