Spire (NYSE:SR) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also commented on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Spire Stock Performance

Spire stock opened at $78.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire has a 12 month low of $57.27 and a 12 month high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.24 and its 200-day moving average is $69.56.

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

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Spire by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 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.