Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $27.11 Million Stock Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc by 6.7% in the first quarter, now holding 676,218 shares valued at approximately $27.1 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their investments in NiSource, with MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB leading with a 64.2% increase in shares.
• Analyst ratings on NiSource vary, with Jefferies Financial Group downgrading it to a "hold" and lowering the price target to $44.00, while other analysts maintain a generally positive outlook.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 676,218 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 48,424 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of NiSource worth $27,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 950,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,112,000 after acquiring an additional 45,791 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in NiSource by 11.1% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 89,313 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 8,919 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth about $98,682,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth about $9,775,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 2.4% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 348,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,982,000 after purchasing an additional 8,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.88.

NiSource Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Monday, hitting $40.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,361,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.05. NiSource, Inc has a 52 week low of $33.32 and a 52 week high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

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.