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

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.785 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%.

Spire has increased 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% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 opened at $71.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $69.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.76. Spire has a 52 week low of $56.36 and a 52 week high of $73.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,504.25. The trade was a 70.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

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.