NiSource (NYSE:NI) PT Raised to $35.00 at Barclays

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its price target boosted by analysts at Barclays from $34.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.90% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $31.56 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.04. The company has a market capitalization of $14.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $32.38. 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 (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 792,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,033,000 after purchasing an additional 57,498 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in NiSource by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in NiSource by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after purchasing an additional 57,658 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $1,559,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in NiSource by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,036,000 after buying an additional 164,532 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

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.