NiSource (NYSE:NI) Price Target Raised to $34.00 at Evercore ISI

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its target price hoisted by Evercore ISI from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

NI has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays raised their target price 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 lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an outperform rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $30.83.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI traded up $0.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.35. 3,847,323 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,260,353. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.56. NiSource has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $32.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.52 and a 200-day moving average of $27.93.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $261,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of NiSource by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,323,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,958,000 after purchasing an additional 157,236 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in NiSource by 4,581.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 9,209 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in NiSource by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 108,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after purchasing an additional 20,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 754,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,742,000 after acquiring an additional 36,466 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.