NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.33.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target 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

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 36,338 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 8,764 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth $489,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in NiSource by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 138,683 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,805,000 after purchasing an additional 11,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $46,852,000 after buying an additional 273,159 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.03. 1,062,646 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,703,919. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $39.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource has a fifty-two week low of $26.70 and a fifty-two week high of $41.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. NiSource's 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.