7,839 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Purchased by 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in NiSource by 123.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,517,000 after buying an additional 3,092,138 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,955,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,432,512,000 after buying an additional 1,850,842 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3,195.5% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,811,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,756,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 68.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,353,977 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 0.5 %

NiSource stock opened at $34.83 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $32.72 and its 200 day moving average is $29.88. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $35.10.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.