NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from ten analysts, with two hold ratings and eight buy ratings.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, representing a 2.8% yield and an annualized dividend of $1.12.
• NiSource reported $0.22 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly beating analysts' expectations of $0.21, with total revenue matching forecasts at $1.16 billion.

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.1111.

Several analysts recently commented on NI shares. Zacks Research raised NiSource to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 171.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 150,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,063,000 after purchasing an additional 95,233 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 168.1% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 81,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,273,000 after purchasing an additional 50,873 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 27.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 207,409 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,367,000 after purchasing an additional 44,822 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 120.1% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46,028 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 25,117 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 51.3% in the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 14,717 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 4,992 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NI stock opened at $40.24 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $41.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource has a fifty-two week low of $33.03 and a fifty-two week high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

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.

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