NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 84,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in NiSource by 146.2% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,388,000 after buying an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 123.6% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,138 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $70,090,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,955,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,432,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in NiSource by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,525,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826,202 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Up 1.3 %

NiSource stock opened at $34.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.19. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $34.14.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NI. Mizuho began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.