NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Receives $37.50 Consensus PT from Brokerages

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.50.

NI has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in NiSource by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,078 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,162,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 118.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after purchasing an additional 876,033 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Up 0.8 %

NI opened at $36.70 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.96 and a 200-day moving average of $34.70. The stock has a market cap of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource has a 52 week low of $24.80 and a 52 week high of $38.83.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 67.88%.

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.