Spire (NYSE:SR) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Spire (NYSE:SR) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America started coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.67.

Spire Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE SR opened at $76.99 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire has a 1-year low of $57.27 and a 1-year high of $78.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,432,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Spire during the third quarter valued at about $39,228,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Spire by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,381,000 after acquiring an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,567,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.