NiSource (NYSE:NI) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Mizuho

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock traded down $0.67 on Friday, reaching $34.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,137,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,035,585. NiSource has a 52 week low of $24.58 and a 52 week high of $35.48. The company has a market capitalization 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NI. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.1% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 12.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank boosted its holdings in NiSource by 0.7% during the second quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 53,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in NiSource by 0.7% during the second quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 62,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in NiSource by 5.2% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.