Spire (NYSE:SR) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.08), Zacks reports. Spire had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 9.70%. Spire updated its FY 2025 guidance to 4.400-4.600 EPS.

Spire Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SR traded down $0.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.31. 409,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 368,419. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.06. Spire has a 1-year low of $56.99 and a 1-year high of $73.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.58.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Spire's dividend payout ratio is 76.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spire

In related news, Director Paul D. Koonce purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $73.61 per share, for a total transaction of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $174,544.89. The trade was a 30.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Spire in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Spire in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.50.

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.