Brokerages Set NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Target Price at $48.27

Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.80.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on NiSource from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in NiSource by 55,625.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,866,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $680,411,000 after purchasing an additional 16,836,630 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 19.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,240,227 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $336,852,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 2,288.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,166,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,101,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $100,965,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $48.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.32. NiSource has a 12 month low of $37.22 and a 12 month high of $48.83.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

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.