Spire (NYSE:SR) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $85.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $72.00. Spire traded as high as $78.83 and last traded at $77.92, with a volume of 91954 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.91.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.70.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,432,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,228,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Spire by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,381,000 after acquiring an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,567,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Spire’s payout ratio is 76.03%.

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.