Richardson Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 792,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,033,000 after acquiring an additional 57,498 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after purchasing an additional 57,658 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 26.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,036,000 after purchasing an additional 164,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth about $9,686,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $33.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.01 and its 200 day moving average is $29.39. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.86 and a fifty-two week high of $34.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.