Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Price

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.06.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $72.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.84. Spire has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $72.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Spire by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,321,000 after acquiring an additional 65,486 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,401,000. American International Group Inc. lifted its stake in Spire by 1.9% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 98,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in Spire by 6.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 88,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,450,000 after purchasing an additional 5,513 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the first quarter valued at $1,479,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.