Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.8182.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Spire from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $82.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Spire has a twelve month low of $68.48 and a twelve month high of $91.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.80 and a 200-day moving average of $81.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.67.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $334.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $439.56 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 10.96%.The company’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.54) earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Spire by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,411,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $522,628,000 after purchasing an additional 123,584 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Spire by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,162,000 after buying an additional 61,851 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,512,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,386,000 after buying an additional 22,296 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 7.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,220,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,468,000 after acquiring an additional 85,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 32.8% during the second quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,030,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,225,000 after acquiring an additional 254,285 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.