NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock Position Raised by Gulf International Bank UK Ltd

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 16.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 991,336 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 146.2% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,388,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,322 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 0.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,374,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,636,000 after acquiring an additional 44,598 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,908,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,415,000 after acquiring an additional 67,697 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in NiSource by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,977 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $35.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.31. The company has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.61 and a twelve month high of $36.17.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 64.24%.

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.