Wells Fargo & Company Raises Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target to $73.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on SR. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has 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 $66.19.

Spire Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $65.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.52. Spire has a twelve month low of $54.15 and a twelve month high of $68.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.88.

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

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of Spire stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,470. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Spire by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Spire by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 5,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Burney Co. raised its position in Spire by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is 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.