NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.50.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NI. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 0.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,888,000 after purchasing an additional 99,882 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,823,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,020,000 after purchasing an additional 316,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,139,000 after purchasing an additional 178,365 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 0.2 %

NI opened at $36.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource has a 12 month low of $24.80 and a 12 month high of $38.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.44 and a 200 day moving average of $33.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. NiSource’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

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.