Aurora Investment Counsel Increases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Aurora Investment Counsel increased its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the second quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth about $43,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $34.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.63. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.86 and a 1-year high of $34.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.82.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

About NiSource

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.