NiSource (NYSE:NI) Sets New 52-Week High at $31.20

Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $31.20 and last traded at $31.06, with a volume of 28644 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

NiSource Stock Up 1.2 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.92 and its 200 day moving average is $27.57. The company has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.66.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NI. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of NiSource by 8.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 98,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 7,646 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 37.2% in the second quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,811 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at $700,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.4% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 25,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Company Profile

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.