Sei Investments Co. Grows Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 847,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 51,275 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.19% of NiSource worth $24,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,823,000 after acquiring an additional 991,336 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in NiSource by 146.2% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,272,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,083,000 after buying an additional 450,818 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 123.6% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,517,000 after buying an additional 3,092,138 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 3,442,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,220,000 after buying an additional 656,060 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Down 0.1 %

NI opened at $34.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $34.56.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.