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

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $45.00 and last traded at $44.8430, with a volume of 2288614 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore increased their target price on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.11.

NiSource Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.52.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $345,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,778,983.11. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NiSource

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 55,625.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,866,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $680,411,000 after purchasing an additional 16,836,630 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $336,852,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 2,288.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,166,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,101,000 after buying an additional 3,033,764 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $100,965,000. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $84,086,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.