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

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the ten analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

NiSource Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE NI traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.01. 7,013,702 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,130,932. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.54. NiSource has a 12 month low of $28.42 and a 12 month high of $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $944,760.18. This trade represents a 13.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 185.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $219,977,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $195,745,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,439,236,000 after buying an additional 3,050,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after buying an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.