Spire (NYSE:SR) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

SR has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.31.

Spire Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE:SR opened at $70.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.52. Spire has a one year low of $56.36 and a one year high of $70.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.76.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $3.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.79%. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.60%.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SR. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Spire in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spire in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spire by 1,318.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

About Spire

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.