Earnings estimates for Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) have been revised upward in the past 30 days, reflecting analysts’ optimism on the stock. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 and 2020 earnings has moved up 0.3% and 0.5% to $3.75 and $3.92 per share during the said period, respectively.
Let’s focus on the factors that make the stockan appropriate pick at the moment.
Zacks Rank & VGM Score
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The stock has an impressive VGM Score of B. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum with the score being a weighted combination of all three factors. Back tested results show that stocks with a favorable VGM Score of A or B coupled with a bullish Zacks Rank are the best investment options.
Price Performance
In the past 12 months, shares of Spire have rallied 26.6% compared with the industry’s gain of 7.2%.
Earnings Surprise History & Long-Term Growth
The company’s average last four-quarter positive earnings surprise is 7.69%. The company’s long-term (3 to 5 years) earnings growth is pegged at 4.93%.
Capital Investment Plans
The company increased capital expenditure plan for 2019 to $740 million from $499 million of 2018.Spire also increased capital expenditure target for 2019-2023 period to $2.8 billion from $2.6 billion of 2019-2022 period.
Dividend Yield
The company has been paying dividend consistently for 74 years and increased the same for 16 consecutive years.
Currently, the company has a dividend yield of 2.37% compared with the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 1.96%.
Other Key Picks
Some other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are ONEOK, Inc (NYSE:OKE) , ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) and National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE:NFG) , each holding a Zacks Rank of 2.
ONEOK pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 3.17% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 11.30%.
ONE Gas pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 8.29% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 5.90%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings for National Fuel Gas has moved up 7% to $3.55 per share in the past 60 days. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 2.80%.
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ONEOK, Inc. (OKE): Free Stock Analysis Report
ONE Gas, Inc. (OGS): Free Stock Analysis Report
National Fuel Gas Company (NFG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Spire Inc. (SR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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Zacks Investment Research