Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Declares Dividend Increase – $3.14 Per Share

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of 3.14 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $12.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.97%. This is a positive change from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76.

Spire has increased its dividend by an average of 5.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Spire has a payout ratio of 66.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Spire to earn $4.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.8%.

Spire Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE SR traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.22. 104,800 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 414,050. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.52. Spire has a twelve month low of $56.36 and a twelve month high of $68.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $65.46 and its 200-day moving average is $63.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.48.

Insider Activity at Spire

In other Spire news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,899.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on SR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Spire from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Spire from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $65.50 to $60.50 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.19.

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 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.