NiSource (NYSE:NI) Reaches New 1-Year High at $34.24

Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $34.24 and last traded at $34.24, with a volume of 203 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on NI. Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

NiSource Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The business 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 company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 792,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,033,000 after buying an additional 57,498 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in NiSource by 7.1% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in NiSource by 12.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,265,000 after purchasing an additional 57,658 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 26.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,036,000 after buying an additional 164,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth $9,686,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.