Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.19.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at $473,899.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SR. Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $3,086,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the 3rd quarter worth $381,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Spire by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spire Stock Performance

Shares of SR opened at $62.24 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.35. Spire has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $68.02.

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.