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

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

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

Spire Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $67.14 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.75 and its 200 day moving average is $62.35. Spire has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $68.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.86 million. Spire had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.42) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,800 shares in the company, valued at $638,470. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Spire news, Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $638,470. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spire in the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at $37,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Spire in the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 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.