Hennessy Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,900 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $16,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in NiSource by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in NiSource by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NI. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

NiSource Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE NI opened at $43.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $33.65 and a one year high of $44.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.29.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

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.