Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target Lowered to $64.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $64.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on SR. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a neutral rating to a buy rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Friday, September 29th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Spire from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Spire from $65.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $63.88.

Spire Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $60.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Spire has a twelve month low of $53.77 and a twelve month high of $75.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.34.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The utilities provider reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $310.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $337.48 million. Spire had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.66) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Spire will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.755 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 8th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.70 per share, for a total transaction of $58,700.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 4,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,953. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.95 per share, with a total value of $30,475.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,475. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.70 per share, for a total transaction of $58,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 4,190 shares in the company, valued at $245,953. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 4,600 shares of company stock valued at $184,717. Company insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Spire by 2.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 31.8% during the first quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Spire by 2.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 9,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 3.4% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Spire by 3.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

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 two segments, Gas Utility and Gas Marketing. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas.