Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Plans $0.79 Quarterly Dividend

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of 0.785 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th.

Spire has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Spire has a payout ratio of 63.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Spire to earn $4.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.3%.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR stock opened at $70.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.57. Spire has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $73.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 19th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

Insider Activity

In other Spire news, Director Paul D. Koonce acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. This trade represents a 70.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.33% 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.