AQR Capital Management LLC Has $38.11 Million Stake in NiSource, Inc $NI

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 950,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,791 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of NiSource worth $38,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 185.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,439,236,000 after buying an additional 3,050,420 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.4% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $962,997,000 after buying an additional 2,650,827 shares during the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth approximately $98,682,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth approximately $71,839,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.88.

NiSource Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NI stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.93. 572,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,461,114. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.04. 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 52 week low of $33.32 and a 52 week high of $43.51. The company has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.60.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors 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 yield of 2.7%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

About NiSource

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.