Paul Koonce Purchases 500 Shares of Spire (NYSE:SR) Stock

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Director Paul Koonce purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $80.50 per share, with a total value of $40,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $603,750. The trade was a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Spire Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of SR opened at $82.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.60 and a 200 day moving average of $87.12. Spire Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.24 and a 52-week high of $95.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Spire (NYSE:SR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.04. Spire had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 13.97%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. Spire’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Spire Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Spire in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 target price on Spire in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Spire from $106.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Spire presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.22.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spire by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 2.3% during the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Spire by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Spire Company Profile

Spire Inc (NYSE: SR), formerly known as The Laclede Group, is a regulated natural gas distribution company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its three operating divisions—Spire Missouri, Spire Alabama and Spire Mississippi—the company delivers natural gas to more than 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. Spire’s service territory spans key markets in the central and southern United States, including metropolitan St. Louis, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Founded in 1857 as the Laclede Gas Light Company, the business has grown through strategic acquisitions, notably Alabama Gas Corporation in 2013 and Mississippi Gas in 2016.