Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target Raised to $78.00 at Morgan Stanley

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $78.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Spire from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.00.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE SR opened at $77.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $57.27 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Spire will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.785 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $42,432,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth $39,228,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Spire by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,381,000 after purchasing an additional 229,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spire during the fourth quarter worth $12,567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

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.