Spire (NYSE:SR) Sets New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Shares of Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $79.11 and last traded at $77.82, with a volume of 76306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Spire from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Spire from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Spire from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $72.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Spire to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Spire from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Spire has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.64.

Spire Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $74.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.92.

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Spire (NYSE:SR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.08). Spire had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 7.88%. On average, research analysts predict that Spire Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.785 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Spire's payout ratio is 76.03%.

Institutional Trading of Spire

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Spire in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,432,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Spire during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,083,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Spire by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,381,000 after buying an additional 229,662 shares during the period. Sourcerock Group LLC bought a new position in Spire in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,567,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Spire by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 722,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,026,000 after buying an additional 139,815 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.