NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Receives $38.13 Average Price Target from Brokerages

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.13.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

NiSource Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $39.59 on Tuesday. NiSource has a 1 year low of $26.26 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.58.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in NiSource by 5.8% in the 3rd 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. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,334 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,765,000 after purchasing an additional 700,747 shares in 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.