What Wall Street is saying about NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) stock is presently standing at about $23.50 and lots of equity research firms seem to have a target price set on the stock. The median one-year price target of 13 analysts covering the company is $25.00, which suggests the stock could still rise over 6 percent. The highest analyst price target is $26.50, which implies a rally of 87 percent. And a quick view of analyst notes show that 2 are rating the stock a buy while 3 rate NI a strong buy. There are 9 equity research firms advocating a Hold and 0 consider it Sell.

Guggenheim analysts provided their view on NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) recently. The rating firm issued a Buy rating to this company in a research note released on Jan 09, 2017. Goldman analysts disclosed their opinion on NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) recently. The rating firm gave a Neutral rating to this stock in a research note published on Dec 15, 2016. According to a research note disclosed on Dec 14, 2016, analysts at Citigroup have upped their rating on these shares from Neutral to Buy.

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Transactions Roundup

Several insiders were part of recent insider activity for the stock. Its EVP & Chief Legal Officer Hightman Carrie J sold 24,000 company shares for 558720, in a transaction on 2017-03-10. Following the transaction, the EVP & Chief Legal Officer is left with a stake of 419,829 shares, currently valued at $9865982. Meanwhile, VP & Chief Accounting Officer Mulpas Joseph W sold 13,000 shares worth $302640, through a transaction dated 2017-03-10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider is left with a stake of 39,920 shares, amounting $938120. NI Director Jesanis Michael E also purchased 12,000 shares, at a stock price of $22.53. This transaction occurred on 2017-01-09 totals $270360. After this transaction, the insider’s stake stands at 26,725 shares, with a market value of $628038.

Executives hold 1.78 percent of the stock. Robert C. Skaggs,Jr is one of the biggest insider owners in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI), according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. The insider owns 766,381 shares which have current market value of around $18009953.5.Joseph Hamrock is another major inside shareholder in the company. The insider owns 598,074 shares as of 0.18%, currently worth $14054739. Carrie J. Hightman is ranked as third insider holder of the stock. This insider holds 439,332 shares with a market value around $10324302 as of recent close.

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Earnings Outlook

In NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)’s latest quarter, EPS moved to $0.33 from $0.06 in preceding quarter and revenues reached at $1,297.00M compared to $853.90M. Analysts had expected NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) to post net income of about $0.34 per share on $1,173.25M in revenue. Looking ahead, analysts on average predict that earnings for the current quarter would come in in the range of $0.61 to $0.70. That is compared with the $0.60 in EPS it reported during the same period a year ago.