Spire (NYSE:SR) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Spire (NYSE:SR) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by ($0.14), MarketWatch Earnings reports. Spire had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.16%. The company had revenue of $310.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $337.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.66) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Spire Stock Up 2.7 %

Spire stock opened at $61.36 on Friday. Spire has a 52 week low of $53.77 and a 52 week high of $75.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Spire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 11th will be issued a $0.755 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 8th. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Spire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.81%.

Insider Transactions at Spire

In other news, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.70 per share, for a total transaction of $58,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 4,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,953. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Steven P. Rasche purchased 3,100 shares of Spire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.82 per share, for a total transaction of $95,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,665 shares in the company, valued at $1,068,375.30. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.70 per share, for a total transaction of $58,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the treasurer now owns 4,190 shares in the company, valued at $245,953. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Spire

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SR. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Spire by 70,596.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,264,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,646,000 after purchasing an additional 4,258,360 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Spire by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,431,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,981,000 after acquiring an additional 742,231 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Spire during the first quarter worth $149,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Spire by 34.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,252,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,065,000 after purchasing an additional 572,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Spire by 5.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,152,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,726,000 after purchasing an additional 396,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SR. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Spire from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Spire from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Spire to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Spire from $65.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Spire from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.88.

Spire Company Profile

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 two segments, Gas Utility and Gas Marketing. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas.