NiSource (NYSE:NI) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $38.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. NiSource traded as high as $35.21 and last traded at $35.20, with a volume of 897222 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.77.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.29.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,519,823,000 after buying an additional 991,336 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,388,000 after buying an additional 5,290,322 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,374,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,636,000 after buying an additional 44,598 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in NiSource by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,908,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,415,000 after buying an additional 67,697 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in NiSource by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,407,000 after buying an additional 1,353,977 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.69 and its 200-day moving average is $30.65.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

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.