Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives $71.50 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 28.6% in the third quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 38.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $68.67 on Tuesday. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $73.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.09.

Spire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $3.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.29%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 72.85%.

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.