Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $46.83 Million Stake in NiSource, Inc $NI

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 10.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,160,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106,142 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $46,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in NiSource by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 376,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,192,000 after purchasing an additional 18,138 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 344,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,887,000 after buying an additional 90,667 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 8,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 1,851 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 181.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $43.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $34.23 and a one year 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $42.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.80.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

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.