Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $59.14 Million Stock Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,365,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 77,846 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.29% of NiSource worth $59,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 1.7% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in NiSource by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 49,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its position in NiSource by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.4% during the third quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 23,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on NiSource in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.20.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $47.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.82 and a 200-day moving average of $42.89. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $35.64 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. NiSource’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.