Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $78.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Spire Price Performance

SR stock opened at $76.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $78.83.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.03%.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Spire in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Spire by 1,318.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 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.