Spire (NYSE:SR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SR. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America started coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.57. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $73.64.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $3.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.94%. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $77,590.50. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares in the company, 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the third quarter valued at $787,000. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter valued at about $4,067,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Spire by 116.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in Spire by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 288,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,511,000 after buying an additional 31,923 shares in the last quarter. 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.