Comerica Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in NiSource by 14.5%, selling 22,565 shares and holding 133,200 shares worth approximately $5.34 million at the end of the quarter.
• Institutional investors own 91.64% of NiSource's stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like MetLife, Jump Financial, and SVB Wealth during the first quarter.
• NiSource announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, representing a 2.7% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for October 31st.

Comerica Bank decreased its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 22,565 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in NiSource were worth $5,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in 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. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,050,420 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,650,827 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the first quarter worth about $71,839,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,389,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $42.26. 1,755,787 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,753,477. The firm has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a 52 week low of $32.53 and a 52 week high of $43.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. 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 research report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.56.

NiSource 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.