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

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.3636.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SR. Bank of America raised shares of Spire from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho upped their price target on Spire from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research upgraded Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Spire by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,791,000 after buying an additional 19,326 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Spire by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,351,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,162,000 after acquiring an additional 61,851 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Spire by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,672,000 after acquiring an additional 47,106 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,240,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,581,000 after acquiring an additional 20,224 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,123,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,890,000 after purchasing an additional 462,500 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spire Stock Down 0.6%

SR opened at $91.29 on Wednesday. Spire has a 1-year low of $69.94 and a 1-year high of $92.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.24 and a 200-day moving average of $82.59.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The business had revenue of $762.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Spire’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 71.74%.

Spire Company Profile

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.