Key Points
- Spire director Paul Koonce bought 500 shares of the company on June 11 at an average price of $78.46, a $39,230 purchase that increased his direct holdings by 6.67% to 8,000 shares.
- Spire’s stock rose 1.6% and opened at $79.11, while the company continues to trade below its 52-week high of $95.31.
- The utility recently reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $3.76 and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, equal to a 4.2% annualized yield.
Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) Director Paul Koonce bought 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $78.46 per share, for a total transaction of $39,230.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,680. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.
Spire Stock Up 1.6%
SR stock opened at $79.11 on Friday. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The business's 50 day moving average price is $87.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.92. 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 $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.52.
Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Spire Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Spire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.00%.
Institutional Trading of Spire
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Spire by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 212,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,623,000 after purchasing an additional 19,373 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Spire during the 1st quarter valued at $9,636,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Spire by 1,031.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Spire by 75.8% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,658 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Spire by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 585,919 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,766,000 after purchasing an additional 8,726 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms recently weighed in on SR. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Spire from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Spire in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.22.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Spire
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.
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