NiSource (NYSE:NI) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.95 and last traded at $44.55, with a volume of 436614 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Barclays set a $45.00 target price on NiSource in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.11.

NiSource Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $21.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). NiSource had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 59.26%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $345,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,778,983.11. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 55,625.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,866,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $680,411,000 after acquiring an additional 16,836,630 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the second quarter worth $296,543,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 2,288.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,166,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,101,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033,764 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $84,086,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 52.0% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,434,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516,296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.