NiSource (NYSE:NI) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $38.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. NiSource traded as high as $35.21 and last traded at $35.20, with a volume of 897222 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.77.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on NI. Barclays boosted their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho started coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NI. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $96,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,977 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,519,823,000 after purchasing an additional 991,336 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 118.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,449,000 after purchasing an additional 876,033 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.28%.

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.