Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target to $70.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $64.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 6.98% from the company’s previous close.

SR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho cut Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Spire Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:SR traded down $1.16 on Thursday, hitting $65.43. 43,064 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 433,247. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. Spire has a 1 year low of $53.77 and a 1 year high of $68.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The firm had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.42) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Steven P. Rasche bought 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.83 per share, for a total transaction of $107,235.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,500 shares in the company, valued at $393,195. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Spire by 3.8% during the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in Spire by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 64,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,999,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Spire by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 65,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,107,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Spire by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 21,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.