State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $2.13 Million Stake in NiSource, Inc $NI

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,245 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050,420 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $962,997,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,827 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,535,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,935,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605,923 shares during the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at about $98,682,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at about $71,839,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $43.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $33.65 and a 12 month high of $43.71. The company has a market capitalization of $20.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NI. Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold 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 price target of $44.38.

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.