Wall Street Zen Downgrades Spire (NYSE:SR) to Sell

Spire (NYSE:SR) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.44.

Spire Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Spire stock opened at $85.68 on Friday. Spire has a 1 year low of $69.94 and a 1 year high of $95.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Spire by 186.8% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.