Spire (NYSE:SR) Downgraded by LADENBURG THALM/SH SH to “Sell”

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $60.50 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $65.50.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SR. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.19.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $63.78 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.85. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $54.15 and a fifty-two week high of $68.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48.

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

Spire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th were issued a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total value of $429,338.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the second quarter valued at about $2,233,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Spire in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,401,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Spire by 197.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,850,000 after acquiring an additional 107,662 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Spire by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 374,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,364,000 after purchasing an additional 61,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spire by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,321,000 after purchasing an additional 65,486 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.