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

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its price objective increased by Mizuho from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

NI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.86 and a 200-day moving average of $36.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource has a 12 month low of $26.26 and a 12 month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 110.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank lifted its position in NiSource by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 16,364 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in NiSource by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,720,000 after purchasing an additional 483,491 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.4% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,471,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,633,000 after purchasing an additional 34,093 shares during the last quarter. 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.