Kentucky Retirement Systems Boosts Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in NiSource were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NI. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of NiSource by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,181,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,910,000 after acquiring an additional 10,489 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 7,661 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $70,090,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE NI opened at $34.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $34.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.49. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NI. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

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.