Short Interest in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Declines By 14.4%

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,604,273 shares, a decline of 14.4% from the February 12th total of 1,874,842 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 357,296 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 357,296 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Spire by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,923,000 after purchasing an additional 38,875 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Spire by 131.0% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 37,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after buying an additional 21,211 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,414,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Spire by 404.1% during the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 2,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Spire by 5.2% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 550,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,915,000 after buying an additional 27,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.70.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SR traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.33. 185,468 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 372,250. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.64. Spire has a twelve month low of $69.94 and a twelve month high of $94.27.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $762.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.54 million. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. Spire’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

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

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.