Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Buys Shares of 69,780 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 69,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,010,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NI. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

NiSource Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $34.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.51. 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.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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