NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the four analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.14.

NI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.81. The company had a trading volume of 4,310,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,255,894. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. NiSource has a 12-month low of $22.86 and a 12-month high of $29.17. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.35 and its 200-day moving average is $26.45. The company has a market capitalization of $12.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,049,000. HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,559,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in NiSource by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 803,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,337,000 after buying an additional 128,497 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in NiSource by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,281,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,024,000 after buying an additional 370,805 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,696,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.