NiSource (NYSE:NI) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

NiSource (NYSE:NI) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on NI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.67.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock opened at $42.16 on Friday. NiSource has a 1-year low of $35.51 and a 1-year high of $44.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.90. The company has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). NiSource had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.25 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.07 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 1.870-1.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $345,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,247 shares in the company, valued at $1,778,983.11. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 90.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in NiSource by 2,668.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other 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.