NiSource, Inc $NI Shares Sold by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc cut its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 68.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,874 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in NiSource were worth $53,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in NiSource by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its holdings in NiSource by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NI shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on NiSource from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.78.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $43.67 on Wednesday. NiSource, Inc has a twelve month low of $34.23 and a twelve month high of $44.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.61.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

About NiSource

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.