NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Short Interest Up 32.3% in February

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 11,367,601 shares, an increase of 32.3% from the February 12th total of 8,591,564 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,108,401 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,108,401 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter worth $84,086,000. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 195.5% in the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 182,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 121,043 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 340,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,737,000 after purchasing an additional 32,595 shares during the period. Williamson Legacy Group LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 138.7% during the 2nd quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 29,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 17,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,215,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $170,070,000 after purchasing an additional 55,515 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $50.00 target price on NiSource in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.20.

NiSource Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:NI traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.39. The company had a trading volume of 3,458,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,941,515. NiSource has a 1 year low of $35.64 and a 1 year high of $47.70. The company has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.83 and a 200 day moving average of $43.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.