Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target Raised to $78.00 at Morgan Stanley

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 0.47% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SR. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.00.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SR traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $77.64. The company had a trading volume of 145,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,812. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.03. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire has a 1 year low of $57.27 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Spire in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. 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.