Analysts Set NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Target Price at $47.20

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.20.

A number of research firms recently commented on NI. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th.

NiSource Stock Down 0.9%

NI stock opened at $47.11 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.26 and its 200 day moving average is $43.02. The stock has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. NiSource has a 1-year low of $35.64 and a 1-year high of $47.67.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NiSource

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NI. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew 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 worth $680,411,000 after acquiring an additional 16,836,630 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 19.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $336,852,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 2,288.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,166,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,101,000 after buying an additional 3,033,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $100,965,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.