NiSource (NYSE:NI) Price Target Raised to $40.00

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its target price upped by Mizuho from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

NI has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Trading Down 1.9 %

NiSource stock opened at $34.49 on Friday. NiSource has a 12 month low of $24.58 and a 12 month high of $35.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.06.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,823,000 after buying an additional 991,336 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 146.2% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 0.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,374,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,636,000 after purchasing an additional 44,598 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,908,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,415,000 after purchasing an additional 67,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in NiSource by 68.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.