NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 31.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 65.2% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 12,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 5,005 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 2.7% during the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 64,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter worth approximately $315,000. Thomasville National Bank raised its holdings in NiSource by 925.4% during the third quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 550,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,086,000 after purchasing an additional 497,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its holdings in NiSource by 114.2% during the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 24,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 13,028 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NI shares. Mizuho started coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.29.

NiSource Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $34.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.89 and its 200-day moving average is $30.81. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.58 and a 52-week high of $35.48. The company has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released 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. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 65.03%.

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.