Morgan Stanley Boosts Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target to $76.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $76.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $63.83.

Spire Stock Up 1.2 %

Spire stock opened at $67.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.31. Spire has a 1-year low of $53.77 and a 1-year high of $68.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $414.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.86 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 9.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.42) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.755 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Spire’s payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $638,470. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $473,899.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the second quarter valued at $587,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in Spire by 63.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 64,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,858,000 after buying an additional 24,800 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Spire by 9.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire in the second quarter worth about $337,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Spire by 0.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 501,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598 shares during the period. 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.