Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Director Sells $429,338.50 in Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Director Maria V. Fogarty sold 6,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $429,338.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,470. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Spire Trading Up 0.5 %

SR stock opened at $64.26 on Wednesday. Spire Inc. has a one year low of $53.77 and a one year high of $68.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. Spire had a net margin of 9.40% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The firm had revenue of $414.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.42) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Spire Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a $0.755 dividend. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is 76.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho downgraded Spire from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Spire during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas.