Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Raises Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 754,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,466 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.17% of NiSource worth $21,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,519,823,000 after acquiring an additional 991,336 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in NiSource by 146.2% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,272,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,083,000 after purchasing an additional 450,818 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in NiSource by 123.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd grew its holdings in NiSource by 23.5% in the first quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 3,442,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,220,000 after purchasing an additional 656,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $34.08 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $34.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.51. The company has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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