Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Sells 11,539 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management cut its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,539 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in NiSource by 8.9% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 12,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in NiSource by 3.9% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its position in NiSource by 2.4% in the second quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 23,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 1,591.0% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 6,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in NiSource by 8.4% in the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 41,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE NI opened at $42.56 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.16. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $33.65 and a one year high of $43.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.88.

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.