NiSource (NYSE:NI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $36.40 and last traded at $36.29, with a volume of 802110 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on NI. Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.47. The company has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 146.2% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in NiSource by 53.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL acquired a new stake in NiSource during the first quarter worth $34,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 1.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,162,000. 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.