NiSource, Inc $NI Holdings Increased by Virtus Advisers LLC

Virtus Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 303.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,733 shares during the period. NiSource makes up about 1.1% of Virtus Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Virtus Advisers LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in NiSource by 48.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in NiSource by 44.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in NiSource by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.56.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI opened at $42.8950 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.84. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $32.51 and a 52-week high of $43.51. 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 stock has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business earned $0.21 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued 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%.

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.