Spire (NYSE:SR) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $68.04 and last traded at $68.02, with a volume of 211941 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.56.

Spire Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.56 and a 200-day moving average of $63.68. 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.37%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is 75.48%.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 6.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Spire during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,228,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Spire by 197.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after buying an additional 107,662 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Spire by 290.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 130,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,877,000 after buying an additional 97,358 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 944,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,351,000 after buying an additional 72,119 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spire by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,385,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,244,000 after acquiring an additional 71,798 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.