Spire (NYSE:SR) Coverage Initiated at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

Investment analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a research note issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH’s target price points to a potential downside of 6.88% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on SR. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Spire from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.72.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $61.75 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.97 and a 200 day moving average of $59.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Spire has a twelve month low of $53.77 and a twelve month high of $69.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $756.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at $393,423.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total transaction of $73,223.82. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Spire by 126.0% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,501,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,969 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,541,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 125.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 627,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,121,000 after acquiring an additional 349,393 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Spire by 275.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 313,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,722,000 after acquiring an additional 229,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the third quarter worth approximately $11,898,000. 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.