Spire (NYSE:SR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Spire (NYSE:SR) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

SR has been the subject of a number of other reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Spire from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.40.

Spire Stock Down 1.4 %

Spire stock opened at $75.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $79.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.80.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Spire’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Spire during the fourth quarter worth $1,030,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Spire by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Spire by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 778,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,802,000 after buying an additional 106,386 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,614,000 after acquiring an additional 28,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 173,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,760,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares in the last quarter. 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.