NiSource, Inc $NI Position Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,160,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 106,142 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of NiSource worth $46,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 1.5% during the second quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 18,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 48.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 3.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 3.9% during the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 50,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI opened at $43.71 on Tuesday. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $34.23 and a 12 month high of $44.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.80.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

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.