Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target to $66.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $66.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 7.65% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on SR. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho cut shares of Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.72.

Spire Price Performance

SR opened at $61.31 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.10. Spire has a twelve month low of $53.77 and a twelve month high of $69.99.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.86 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.05%. Spire’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.70 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Spire will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,768 shares in the company, valued at $393,423.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph B. Hampton sold 1,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.13, for a total transaction of $75,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,423.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Spire by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Spire by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Spire by 206.6% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.