Spire (NYSE:SR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $91.50 and last traded at $91.5810, with a volume of 68443 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded Spire from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.36.

Spire Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.30. The company has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.67.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $762.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $785.54 million. Spire had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 10.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 71.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Spire during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Optima Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 186.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Spire

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.