Seven Eight Capital LP Takes Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,144,000 after buying an additional 29,055 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after purchasing an additional 57,658 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,036,000 after purchasing an additional 164,532 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in NiSource during the 1st quarter worth $9,686,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in NiSource by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 195,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 31,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.7 %

NI stock opened at $34.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.51. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $34.49. The company has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS 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 prior year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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