Short Interest in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Grows By 32.3%

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 11,367,601 shares, a growth of 32.3% from the February 12th total of 8,591,564 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,108,401 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,108,401 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

NiSource Price Performance

NI traded up $0.09 on Monday, reaching $47.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,197,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,804,924. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.25. NiSource has a 52-week low of $35.64 and a 52-week high of $47.96.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.07% and a net margin of 13.99%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,408,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,606,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,630 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in NiSource by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 51,504,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,150,818,000 after acquiring an additional 8,240,227 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,735,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,116,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,351 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 55,625.2% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,866,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $680,411,000 after acquiring an additional 16,836,630 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,459,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $518,301,000 after acquiring an additional 245,110 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on NI. Citigroup increased their target price on NiSource from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.20.

NiSource Company Profile

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.