Spire (NYSE:SR) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

Spire (NYSE:SR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Spire from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Spire from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $65.50 to $60.50 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.31.

Spire Stock Up 3.2 %

SR traded up $2.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.59. 222,819 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 414,966. Spire has a 1-year low of $56.36 and a 1-year high of $70.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Spire

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Spire by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Spire by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by 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.