Amalgamated Bank Grows Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 134,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,388 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in NiSource by 123.6% during 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 position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $70,090,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 3.6% in the 4th 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, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 3,195.5% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,811,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756,480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.7 %

NI stock opened at $34.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $34.49. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The business 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 last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NI. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently 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.