Spire Inc. (SR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.82 on October 2nd

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.825 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, October 2nd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th.

Spire has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. Spire has a payout ratio of 65.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Spire to earn $5.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.8%.

Spire Stock Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $79.97 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.64 and a 200-day moving average of $86.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.52. 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 has a twelve month low of $73.41 and a twelve month high of $95.31.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SR. BTIG Research set a $101.00 price target on Spire in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Spire in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Mizuho began coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.50.

About Spire

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.