NiSource (NYSE:NI) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

NiSource (NYSE:NI) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NI. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.67.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $42.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.63. NiSource has a 1-year low of $35.51 and a 1-year high of $44.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.25 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 14.15%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.07 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 1.870-1.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that NiSource will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 41,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,778,983.11. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,422,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,477,766,000 after purchasing an additional 578,061 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in NiSource by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,580,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,107,647,000 after acquiring an additional 854,767 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,243,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,850,000 after acquiring an additional 124,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.4% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,734,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,381,000 after purchasing an additional 156,958 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.