NiSource (NYSE:NI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $38.69 and last traded at $38.72, with a volume of 120290 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NI. Mizuho raised their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.43. The stock has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. NiSource’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 133,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,900,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 203.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 101,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,713,000 after acquiring an additional 67,759 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $246,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 735,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,034,000 after purchasing an additional 21,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.