Jennison Associates LLC Has $473.38 Million Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 1.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,734,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 156,958 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $473,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 90.7% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on NiSource from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on NiSource from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $43.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.31 and its 200-day moving average is $40.84. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $34.23 and a 1-year high of $44.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for 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 previous year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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