Spire (NYSE:SR) Price Target Raised to $80.00

Spire (NYSE:SR) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Spire from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.06.

Spire Price Performance

NYSE:SR opened at $72.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.87 and a 200-day moving average of $63.84. Spire has a 52 week low of $56.36 and a 52 week high of $72.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.52.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $3.14 dividend. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This is a boost from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Spire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Spire in the second quarter valued at about $2,233,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Spire in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,401,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Spire by 197.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 162,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,850,000 after buying an additional 107,662 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spire during the third quarter worth approximately $787,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Spire by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,626,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $345,321,000 after buying an additional 65,486 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.