USA Financial Formulas Decreases Stake in NiSource, Inc $NI

USA Financial Formulas cut its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 18.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,302 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in NiSource were worth $947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NI. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 48.8% in the first 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 boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 57.3% in the first 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 boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 39.4% in the first 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 first quarter worth $69,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Seven 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

NiSource Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $43.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $33.65 and a 52-week high of $43.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.23. The company has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for 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 business earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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 $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

NiSource 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.