Weiss Ratings Reaffirms "Buy (B)" Rating for NiSource (NYSE:NI)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Buy (B)" rating for NiSource (NYSE:NI), while other analysts have varying opinions, including BMO Capital Markets increasing their target price to $47.00 and Jefferies Financial Group downgrading it to "Hold".
• NiSource's stock has seen recent trading fluctuations, with shares dropping by 0.5% to $43.67, amidst an average target price consensus of $44.44 from various analysts.
• Institutional investors heavily own 91.64% of NiSource, with firms like Vanguard and T. Rowe Price increasing their holdings significantly in the latest quarters.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reissued by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI began coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday. They set an "in-line" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.44.

NiSource Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $43.67. The stock had a trading volume of 121,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,486,019. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NiSource has a 1 year low of $33.65 and a 1 year high of $44.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,422,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,477,766,000 after acquiring an additional 578,061 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of NiSource by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,726,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $997,447,000 after acquiring an additional 965,718 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $962,997,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,827 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 55,625.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,866,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $680,411,000 after acquiring an additional 16,836,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,243,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $491,850,000 after purchasing an additional 124,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.