NiSource (NYSE:NI) Price Target Raised to $45.00

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on NI. Mizuho upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $39.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource has a fifty-two week low of $27.60 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.89.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts expect that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in NiSource by 64.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 44.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.