Spire (NYSE:SR) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $82.19 and last traded at $82.20, with a volume of 27071 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Spire from $81.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Spire in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on shares of Spire and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Spire in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.80.

Spire Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.68. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.69.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.10. Spire had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $421.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Spire has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.400-4.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were issued a $0.785 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 67.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,957.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,031.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.