BMO Capital Markets Increases NiSource (NYSE:NI) Price Target to $36.00

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its price objective raised by BMO Capital Markets from $34.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on NI. Barclays upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an outperform rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NiSource has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $32.43.

NiSource Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $34.06 on Thursday. NiSource has a 1-year low of $22.86 and a 1-year high of $34.14. The company has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 792,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,033,000 after purchasing an additional 57,498 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in NiSource by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in NiSource by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,265,000 after buying an additional 57,658 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in NiSource by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,036,000 after buying an additional 164,532 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in NiSource during the first quarter valued at about $9,686,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Company Profile

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.