Spire (NYSE:SR) Upgraded at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a sell rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $83.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

SR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Spire Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Spire stock opened at $76.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $76.96.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter worth $42,432,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,228,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Spire by 29.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Spire in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,567,000. Institutional investors 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.