Mizuho Issues Positive Forecast for NiSource (NYSE:NI) Stock Price

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its target price raised by Mizuho from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.67 on Friday, reaching $34.49. The stock had a trading volume of 3,137,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,035,585. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.03. The company has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource has a 1 year low of $24.58 and a 1 year high of $35.48.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.07%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 18.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,723 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 11.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,701 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.2% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,058,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,285,000 after acquiring an additional 61,389 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 15.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 19,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 2,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 19.9% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.