Spire (NYSE:SR) Director Paul Koonce Acquires 2,000 Shares

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Director Paul Koonce bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $85.81 per share, for a total transaction of $171,620.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,670. The trade was a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Spire Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE SR traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $85.94. The company had a trading volume of 271,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,205. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.26 and a 200 day moving average of $87.62. Spire Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.94 and a 1-year high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 58.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.44.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Spire by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in Spire by 2.6% in the third quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC increased its stake in Spire by 2.3% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Spire by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC increased its stake in Spire by 4.6% in the third quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.