NiSource (NYSE:NI) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $39.99 and last traded at $39.94, with a volume of 565617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. 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 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

NiSource Trading Up 0.2 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $18.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NiSource

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in NiSource by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in NiSource by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,334 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,765,000 after purchasing an additional 700,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.