NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.50.

Several research firms have recently commented on NI. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th.

NiSource Stock Up 0.5 %

NiSource stock opened at $35.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NiSource has a 1-year low of $24.58 and a 1-year high of $35.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.50. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.28%.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in NiSource during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.