Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) VP Gerard J. Gorla Sells 500 Shares of Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $65.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.19. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.77 and a fifty-two week high of $68.02.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.42) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SR shares. Mizuho cut Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.50.

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.