NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,872 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NI. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the second quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the first quarter worth about $43,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NI. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Mizuho assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

NiSource Trading Up 0.8 %

NI opened at $34.38 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $34.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.77.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.28%.

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.