Ryan Hyman Sells 3,822 Shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) SVP Ryan Hyman sold 3,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.51, for a total transaction of $307,709.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,890.45. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Spire Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of SR opened at $78.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.55. Spire Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.97.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Spire had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 58.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SR. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 target price on Spire in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.22.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Spire during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Spire during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Spire by 186.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Spire

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.