NiSource, Inc $NI Shares Bought by Allstate Corp

Key Points

• Allstate Corp significantly increased its stake in NiSource, Inc by 151.1% during Q1, now holding 35,344 shares valued at approximately $1.42 million.
• Institutional investors own 91.64% of NiSource's stock, with other firms like Millennium Management LLC and Vanguard Group also boosting their stakes.
• NiSource announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting a 2.6% dividend yield, set to be paid on November 20th.

Allstate Corp increased its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 151.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,269 shares during the period. Allstate Corp's holdings in NiSource were worth $1,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 5.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,439,236,000 after buying an additional 3,050,420 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 12.4% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $962,997,000 after buying an additional 2,650,827 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the first quarter valued at about $71,839,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,389,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE NI traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.41. 4,133,365 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,977,188. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $32.53 and a 1-year high of $43.51. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $41.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.