Spire (SR) Competitors

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) and Spire (NYSE:SR) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, community ranking, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Does the media favor EVRG or SR?

In the previous week, Evergy had 2 more articles in the media than Spire. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for Evergy and 26 mentions for Spire. Spire's average media sentiment score of 0.73 beat Evergy's score of 0.29 indicating that Spire is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Evergy	10 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Spire	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor EVRG or SR?

Spire received 276 more outperform votes than Evergy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.45% of users gave Evergy an outperform vote while only 58.53% of users gave Spire an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Evergy	Outperform Votes 129 59.45%	Underperform Votes 88 40.55%
Spire	Outperform Votes 405 58.53%	Underperform Votes 287 41.47%

Do analysts rate EVRG or SR?

Evergy presently has a consensus price target of $61.88, suggesting a potential downside of 3.88%. Spire has a consensus price target of $66.56, suggesting a potential downside of 2.67%. Given Spire's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Spire is more favorable than Evergy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Evergy	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Spire	2 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.88

Is EVRG or SR a better dividend stock?

Evergy pays an annual dividend of $2.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Spire pays an annual dividend of $3.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Evergy pays out 69.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Spire pays out 75.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Evergy has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years and Spire has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Spire is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is EVRG or SR more profitable?

Evergy has a net margin of 14.77% compared to Spire's net margin of 9.40%. Evergy's return on equity of 8.77% beat Spire's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Evergy	14.77%	8.77%	2.72%
Spire	9.40%	8.10%	2.24%

Which has more risk & volatility, EVRG or SR?

Evergy has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spire has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, EVRG or SR?

Evergy has higher revenue and earnings than Spire. Spire is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Evergy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Evergy	$5.51B	2.69	$731.30M	$3.70	17.40
Spire	$2.61B	1.51	$217.50M	$4.16	16.44

Do institutionals and insiders believe in EVRG or SR?

87.2% of Evergy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Spire shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Evergy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Spire shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Evergy beats Spire on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.