Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) to Issue $0.79 Quarterly Dividend

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.785 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $3.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%.

Spire has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Spire has a payout ratio of 63.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Spire to earn $4.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.5%.

Spire Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE SR traded up $2.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $71.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 320,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,453. Spire has a 52-week low of $56.36 and a 52-week high of $73.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on SR shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Spire in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Spire from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Spire from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Spire from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul D. Koonce bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $73.61 per share, with a total value of $73,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,504.25. This represents a 70.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Adam W. Woodard sold 1,150 shares of Spire stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $77,590.50. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 2,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,544.89. This represents a 30.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.