Bank of America Begins Coverage on Spire (NYSE:SR)

Research analysts at Bank of America started coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 3.40% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on SR. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.94.

Spire Trading Down 0.6 %

Spire stock opened at $67.70 on Friday. Spire has a 1 year low of $56.36 and a 1 year high of $73.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.57.

Insider Activity at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 28.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.