NiSource (NYSE:NI) Price Target Raised to $45.00

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.89.

NiSource Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $39.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.67. NiSource has a fifty-two week low of $26.26 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 185.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,977,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $195,745,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.