Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Buys 88,978 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 304,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 88,978 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. owned about 0.06% of NiSource worth $12,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Crumly & Associates Inc. increased its stake in NiSource by 1.5% in the second quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 18,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 48.8% in 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 during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 0.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.44.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $42.69 on Tuesday. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $33.86 and a 12 month high of $44.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.45. The firm has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.60. 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 (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. 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 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.