73,980 NiSource, Inc $NI Shares Acquired by Vise Technologies Inc.

Key Points

• Vise Technologies increased its NiSource stake by 55.3% in the third quarter, acquiring 73,980 shares and bringing its total holdings to 207,797 shares valued at approximately $8.1 million.
• Institutional investors own 91.64% of NiSource, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $48.58; twelve analysts rate the stock Buy and one rates it Hold.
• NiSource exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.27 EPS versus the $0.23 consensus and $1.35 billion in revenue. The company also declared a $0.30 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.7% yield.

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 207,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 73,980 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $8,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MGO One Seven LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 17.1% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 67,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 9,767 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth approximately $245,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 14,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 37,509 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $1,590,381.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 78,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,329,544.80. This represents a 32.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of several research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price target on shares of NiSource from $51.50 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NiSource from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.58.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $44.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.84. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $38.42 and a 1-year high of $49.21. The stock has a market cap of $21.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.55.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 8.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. NiSource's payout ratio is 61.54%.

About NiSource

NiSource Inc is a regulated energy holding company based in Merrillville, Indiana. Through its operating companies, the company provides natural gas distribution and electric utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NiSource's natural gas operations include Columbia Gas utilities serving customers in several states, including Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its electric utility, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), serves customers in northern Indiana and provides both electric power and natural gas services.

The company's operations include energy delivery infrastructure, utility system maintenance, customer services and investments intended to support reliability and the transition of its generation portfolio.

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