International Assets Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 249.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,066 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings 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. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in NiSource by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,407,000 after buying an additional 1,353,977 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 991,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 118.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after buying an additional 876,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Up 0.7 %

NI stock opened at $34.74 on Tuesday. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.58 and a 1-year high of $35.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.14 and its 200-day moving average is $31.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Mizuho upped their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

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.