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

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $92.7778.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Spire from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Spire from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, February 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Spire by 158.1% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,990,000 after buying an additional 612,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,226,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,756,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Spire by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 846,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,987,000 after buying an additional 260,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 647,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,560,000 after buying an additional 185,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $93.98 on Thursday. Spire has a 52 week low of $69.94 and a 52 week high of $94.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $762.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $785.54 million. Spire had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Spire has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.650-5.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.