NiSource (NYSE:NI) Sets New 52-Week High at $34.56

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $34.56 and last traded at $34.41, with a volume of 590885 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NI. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

NiSource Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.56. The stock has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NI. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,388,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,322 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 123.6% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after buying an additional 3,092,138 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,090,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,955,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,432,512,000 after buying an additional 1,850,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 3,195.5% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,811,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,094,000 after buying an additional 1,756,480 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.