Spire (NYSE:SR) Given New $78.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Spire to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.00.

Spire Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $77.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.08. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.03%.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Spire in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Spire by 1,318.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.