Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Increases Stock Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 179.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,760 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 48.8% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in NiSource in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in NiSource by 57.3% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in NiSource by 39.4% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NI opened at $43.67 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.61. NiSource, Inc has a twelve month low of $34.23 and a twelve month high of $44.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.60.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of NiSource to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.78.

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.