Intech Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 122.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 72,260 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of NiSource by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of NiSource by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of NiSource by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.88.

NiSource Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $41.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.05. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $33.32 and a 1-year high of $43.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. Analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

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.