Mizuho Downgrades Spire (NYSE:SR) to Neutral

Spire (NYSE:SR) was downgraded by Mizuho from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Thursday, FinViz reports. They presently have a $62.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $64.00. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 0.13% from the company’s current price.

SR has been the topic of several other reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on Spire in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.50.

Spire Stock Performance

SR stock opened at $61.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.55. Spire has a one year low of $53.77 and a one year high of $69.99.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $756.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.34 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 on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.58, for a total value of $73,223.82. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,944.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 sale, the treasurer now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $92,944.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total value of $75,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at about $563,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the first quarter valued at approximately $451,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 4.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 69,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Spire by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 208,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,790,000 after acquiring an additional 12,066 shares during the period. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Spire by 3.8% during the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

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.