Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target Cut to $69.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $70.00 to $69.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential downside of 4.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SR. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.06.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $72.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.52. Spire has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $72.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Spire by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,154,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,535,000 after acquiring an additional 44,969 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after purchasing an additional 71,798 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Spire by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Spire by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 805,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,231,000 after purchasing an additional 36,214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.