Key Points
- Spire director Paul Koonce bought 2,000 shares on May 8 at $85.81 each, a total purchase of $171,620, increasing his holdings by 40% to 7,000 shares.
- Spire reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $3.76 per share, topping estimates by $0.04, though revenue of $1.02 billion fell short of forecasts.
- The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, equivalent to a 3.8% annualized yield, with payment scheduled for July 2.
Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) Director Paul Koonce acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $85.81 per share, with a total value of $171,620.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $600,670. This trade represents a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
Spire Stock Up 0.1%
SR stock opened at $85.75 on Tuesday. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.94 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The business's 50 day moving average price is $91.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.56.
Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Spire Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 58.00%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have recently commented on SR shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Monday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.50.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Spire
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,430,368 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $531,791,000 after acquiring an additional 19,326 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 61,851 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Spire by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,672,000 after purchasing an additional 47,106 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Spire by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,240,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $102,581,000 after purchasing an additional 20,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Spire by 70.0% during 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 during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Spire
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Recommended Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
