Spire (NYSE:SR) Rating Increased to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $85.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $72.00.

SR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.00.

Spire Stock Performance

SR opened at $76.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.30 and its 200-day moving average is $69.18. The stock has a market cap 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. 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 twelve month low of $57.27 and a twelve month high of $78.83.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,432,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Spire in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,228,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 worth $69,381,000 after purchasing an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,567,000. 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 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.