NiSource (NYSE:NI) Hits New 1-Year High at $31.59

Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $31.59 and last traded at $31.55, with a volume of 1050677 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.28 and a 200 day moving average of $27.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.28%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,823,000 after buying an additional 991,336 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP grew its position in shares of NiSource by 146.2% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,525,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826,202 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,272,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,083,000 after purchasing an additional 450,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 123.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092,138 shares in 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.