NiSource (NYSE:NI) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $38.94 and last traded at $38.83, with a volume of 2555285 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NI shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities 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 a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 724,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,638,000 after acquiring an additional 158,675 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 45,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 18,392 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,075,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,291,000 after acquiring an additional 43,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartree Partners LP bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $3,977,000. 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.