Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases Shares of 795 NiSource, Inc $NI

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 234,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,390,000 after buying an additional 53,972 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 80,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,223,000 after buying an additional 38,237 shares during the period. Lincoln Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,556,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 358,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,371,000 after buying an additional 43,947 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth approximately $710,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $42.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.47. The stock has a market cap of $20.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $34.23 and a 52-week high of $44.51.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research raised NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.44.

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.