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

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

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

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $39.18 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource has a 52-week low of $26.26 and a 52-week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

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

Institutional Trading of NiSource

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 9,626 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $9,842,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 400.8% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 125,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,602,000 after purchasing an additional 100,193 shares in the last quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $358,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of NiSource by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 256,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,421,000 after purchasing an additional 58,471 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.