NiSource (NYSE:NI) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $38.22 and last traded at $38.16, with a volume of 228715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in NiSource by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $176,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth about $32,162,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 118.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after buying an additional 876,033 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 5,767.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 827,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,851,000 after buying an additional 813,770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

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.