NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Short Interest Down 20.0% in January

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 8,647,294 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the January 15th total of 10,813,578 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,470,862 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,470,862 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NI. BMO Capital Markets set a $50.00 target price on NiSource in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.20.

NiSource Stock Up 2.6%

NI traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,190,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,820,286. NiSource has a 1 year low of $35.64 and a 1 year high of $46.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.94 and its 200-day moving average is $42.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.65. 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 (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.07%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NiSource will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $345,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,778,983.11. The trade was a 16.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,408,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,606,180,000 after buying an additional 1,032,630 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in NiSource by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,735,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,116,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,351 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $680,411,000 after purchasing an additional 16,836,630 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,459,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $518,301,000 after purchasing an additional 245,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,734,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,381,000 after purchasing an additional 156,958 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.