Brokerages Set NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Price Target at $41.11

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 185.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $219,977,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $195,745,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NiSource by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,236,000 after buying an additional 3,050,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $39.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.91. NiSource has a 52-week low of $27.60 and a 52-week high of $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

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.