NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.50.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

NiSource Trading Down 0.6 %

NiSource stock opened at $37.06 on Friday. NiSource has a 1 year low of $24.80 and a 1 year high of $38.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. NiSource’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.1% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 3.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.