Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for NiSource (NYSE:NI) Stock

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Mizuho from $38.00 to $40.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on NI. Evercore ISI upped their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.51 on Friday, hitting $34.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,135,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,026,146. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.46. NiSource has a 1 year low of $24.58 and a 1 year high of $35.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the second quarter worth $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Company Profile

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.