ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Grows Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1,866.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,722 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 31.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 65.2% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 12,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 64,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $315,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $35.14 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.58 and a 52-week high of $35.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.52.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

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.