Short Interest in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Decreases By 43.3%

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,220,000 shares, a decrease of 43.3% from the August 31st total of 14,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NiSource

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,388,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,092,138 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,955,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,432,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,842 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in 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. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in NiSource by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,977 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.06 on Thursday, reaching $34.12. 2,207,708 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,223,091. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NiSource has a 1-year low of $22.86 and a 1-year high of $34.56. The firm has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.42 and a 200-day moving average of $29.64.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. 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 3.11%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. One 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

About NiSource

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.