Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $2.26 Million Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,996 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zimmer Partners LP grew its position in shares of NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,388,000 after buying an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in NiSource by 123.6% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092,138 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,090,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,955,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,432,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850,842 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,525,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $34.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $34.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.28%.

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.