NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

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

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

NiSource Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $37.75 on Monday. NiSource has a 12-month low of $24.80 and a 12-month high of $38.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for 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 revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.24%.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in NiSource by 53.3% during the 3rd 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 lifted its holdings in NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth $32,162,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 118.4% in the second 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. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.