NiSource (NYSE:NI) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $47.70 and last traded at $47.4140, with a volume of 728139 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NI shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets set a $50.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.20.

NiSource Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a market cap of $22.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.17.

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. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.07% and a net margin of 13.99%.The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at $84,086,000. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in NiSource by 195.5% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 182,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 121,043 shares during the period. Williamson Legacy Group LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 138.7% during the 2nd quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 29,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 17,271 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in NiSource by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 340,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,737,000 after purchasing an additional 32,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in NiSource by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,215,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,070,000 after purchasing an additional 55,515 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.