Ascent Group LLC Buys 1,173 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in NiSource in the first quarter worth $69,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $43.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.30. 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 $44.18.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid 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 of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NI. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.