Spire (NYSE:SR) Research Coverage Started at Scotiabank

Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a sector perform rating and a $79.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

SR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Spire in a report on Monday, September 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spire from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Spire in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Spire from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.50.

Spire Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SR opened at $76.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.94. Spire has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $95.31.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $420.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.62 million. Spire had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 21.48%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. Spire has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Spire will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.8250 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Spire’s payout ratio is presently 36.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spire

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Spire in the 2nd quarter worth $667,642,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Spire by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,579,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,672,000 after buying an additional 47,106 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Spire by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,240,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,581,000 after buying an additional 20,224 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Spire by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 667,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,134,000 after acquiring an additional 8,927 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Spire during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,993,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc is a diversified natural gas company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its regulated utility operations, the company distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Missouri and Alabama.

Spire’s business includes natural gas distribution, gas storage and transportation, and related energy services. Its operations also include natural gas marketing and midstream activities, which support the delivery and management of natural gas for utility and other customers.

The company traces its history to 1857, when it was established as Laclede Gas Light Company.