Spire Inc. (SR) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 11th

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 yield of 18.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This is an increase from Spire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76.

Spire has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Spire has a dividend payout ratio of 66.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 1.7 %

SR stock opened at $67.01 on Friday. Spire has a fifty-two week low of $56.36 and a fifty-two week high of $68.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $65.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.53. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.52. 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 related news, VP Gerard J. Gorla sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $32,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,899.02. This trade represents a 6.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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