NiSource, Inc $NI Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Key Points

• Franklin Resources trimmed its NiSource stake by 3.4% in Q3, selling 223,090 shares and now holds 6,318,263 shares (~1.32% of the company) valued at about $273.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment is positive with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" (nine Buys, three Holds) and an average price target of $47.20, with several firms raising targets into the $48–$50 range.
• NiSource beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.51 vs. $0.49), set FY2026 guidance of $2.020–2.070, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 (annualized $1.20, ~2.6% yield; payout ratio ~61.5%).

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,318,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 223,090 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.32% of NiSource worth $273,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 60.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 30,494 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,223,000 after buying an additional 11,452 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in NiSource by 41.6% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 39,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 11,671 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth approximately $105,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 7.1% in the first quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 14.4% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 120,536 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,862,000 after purchasing an additional 15,174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $50.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.20.

NiSource Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE NI opened at $46.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.69. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $35.64 and a one year high of $47.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.64.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

NiSource Profile

NiSource, Inc NYSE: NI is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company's core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.

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