NiSource - NI Stock Forecast, Price & News

NiSource Inc., an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 853,000 customers in northern Indiana, as well as approximately 2.4 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland. It operates approximately 54,600 miles of distribution main pipelines, as well as associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipelines. The company generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 483,000 customers in 20 counties in the northern part of Indiana, as well as engages in wholesale electric and transmission transactions. It owns and operates coal-fired electric generating stations with a capacity of 722 megawatts (MW) in Wheatfield and 455 MW in Michigan City; combined cycle gas turbine with a capacity of 563 MW in West Terre Haute; natural gas generating units with a capacity of 155 MW in Wheatfield; hydro generating plants with a capacity of 9 MW in Carroll County and 7 MW in White County; and wind generating units with a capacity of 102 MW and 302 MW in White County, Indiana. The company was formerly known as NIPSCO Industries, Inc. and changed its name to NiSource Inc. in April 1999. NiSource Inc. was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, April 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Edward Jones raised shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of NiSource to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.29.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $31.14 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.83. NiSource has a 12-month low of $23.65 and a 12-month high of $32.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.38.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 18th. Investors of record on Monday, October 31st will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 28th. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 61.04%.