Spire (SR) Set to Announce Earnings on Wednesday

Spire (NYSE:SR) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, November 20th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.45) per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Spire Price Performance

Spire stock opened at $68.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.52. Spire has a 52-week low of $56.36 and a 52-week high of $68.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.59.

Spire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $3.14 per share. This represents a $12.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s payout ratio is 72.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,899.02. The trade was a 6.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on SR shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.19.

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.