Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock Rating Upgraded by LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Mizuho upgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Spire Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:SR opened at $76.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $78.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.97. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 9,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Spire by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Spire by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. 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.